EICMA 2024: The 'Summa Cum Laude' edition?
Never known for its modesty (nor accuracy where attendance numbers are concerned) ANCMA, the Italian government backed motorcycle trade association that operates the annual EICMA 'Milan Show', hailed its 110th year, 81st edition as its 'Summa Cum Laude' Edition.
We here at International Dealer News certainly wouldn't go that far - it was good, sure, but with the age profile of the largely Greater Milan urban area catchment area from which most of the 600,000 claimed visitors are drawn appearing to include ever fewer visitors of motorcycle license holding age, EICMA may well be a uniquely popular (and Italian) enthusiast-fest, but even after all these years, hundreds of potential exhibitors still appear to regard its effectiveness as a profitable business expo as unproven.
The issue of the attendance age profile and annual parts and service item consuming visitor PTW is something that features like the 'Gaming Zone' will not improve - it can only worsen such issues. At present there is no convincing research on the percentage of motorcycle game players that go on to be riders.
Unlike northern European shows (such as INTERMOT before it imploded), the EICMA visitor base has never exactly been a high mileage cohort. The eternal question of who the 'Milan Show' is really for and who actually makes money from it remains as much the elephant in its eight enormous rooms as it ever has been.
Technically speaking there were ten halls of the Rho Fiera Milano pressed into action this year, but two of them were mostly Chinese in their exhibitor footprint, and even they weren't full. Net of indoor e-bike test ride space and other 'hall fill' features, it remains unlikely that, from a mainstream internal combustion engine OEM and aftermarket hard part P&A and soft part G&A exhibitor perspective, in reality it is unlikely to be much more than a four-hall exhibition when it comes to genuine and genuinely viable hard-core dealer-facing OEM and aftermarket business opportunities.
That still makes it the largest annual motorcycle industry business opportunity in the world, one that gives ANCMA an impressive stat-fest opportunity.
The 600,000 attendance number cited by EICMA/ANCMA (itself a suspiciously convenient round number) is said to have been some 40,000 up on that seen in 2023.
The organisers are claiming a record amount of vendor and brand space occupied (330,000 sq m of indoor and outdoor space), and a record number of exhibitors buying into the show. The outdoor MotoLive features and space used is always impressive - including race circuits and test ride tracks.
More than 770 exhibitors were said to be representing 45 countries and 2163 brands. EICMA exhibitor figures show that of those 2,163 brands, 622 were from mainland China, 121 were Taiwanese and a further 18 headquartered in Hong Kong. The 761 from those three 'Chinese' markets compares to 1,105 from the 27 markets of the EU, 963 of which were from the EU 'Big Four' with 770 of them from the Italian home market, 71 from France, 66 from Germany and 56 from Spain.
Other notable market exhibitor counts included 80 from Pakistan,17 from India, 32 from South Korea, 27 from Turkey and 23 from the UK. Interestingly there were only 31 exhibitors from the United States - one of which was Harley-Davidson, but there was no Polaris/Indian Motorcycle booth this year.
EICMA says that as many as 26 percent of the vendors present exhibiting there for first time. That is a 'factoid' that the organisers have deployed quite often in the post-Covid era, and if anywhere near true it points to two less than wonderful trends.
Namely that the number of available exhibitors in the international 'Vendor Park' has seen considerable churn - suggesting that annual profits and capital investments have been softening, and that there is considerable ongoing 'churn' among the EICMA exhibitor 'family', suggesting that many more familiar and once leading vendors are finding other ways of spending their marketing budgets.
We here at International Dealer News may well be beneficiaries of that - as a unique and uniquely international tool it looks like 2025 will represent an 11th straight year of growth for us. From an individual national market dealer and distributor perspective though, the continuing trend among marketers to move away from in-person selling opportunities confusing the 'Peer-to-Peer' reach of social media with viable trade marketing and branding opportunities. This continues to reduce the effectiveness of the PTW industry's marketing effectiveness. That means higher costs and lower returns on investment. Not good.
Based on "renewed quality criteria" that were introduced in 2022, EICMA claims that the number of "industry professionals" among its visitor footprint saw "more than 38 thousand professionals coming from 126 different nations" to participate in the event. If true then set against the claimed total attendance that represents a lower percentage of trade visitors - which was quite apparent from the profile of those who were walking the aisles on what are, notionally and theoretically the 'trade' (and Press/Media) days.
"The presence of journalists, content creators, experts and communication professionals grew, with a solid +13% over 2023 and a provenance from as many as 74 countries, they almost reached the number of 8,000."
The "EICMA: 110 years of two-wheel design" exhibition that was set up to celebrate the event's anniversary through a selection 36 historical and modern motorcycles was a tad superficial - lacking important historical examples and missing important technological, racing and geo-political milestones. But is still said to have attracted some 20,000 visitors.
EICMA President and CEO Pietro Meda and Paolo Magri stressed that "these numbers are the best way to celebrate such a unique milestone as EICMA's 110th anniversary." No, they are not. The resulting increase in sales and brand profiles among active buyers is the only suitable metric for an industry expo in any market - consumer or otherwise. Though the gradual post-Covid return of the motorcycle manufacturers is to be welcomed.
"Since after the interruption due to Covid, we have never stopped investing in and looking to the future of the event, implementing services for companies, content, promotion and visitor experiences for the public.
"The return of all the manufacturers was a source of great pride, as was that of seeing the pavilions full of young people and families: to them, to all the enthusiasts and to our partners goes our biggest thank you."
Save-the-Date: the 82nd EICMA exhibition in its 111th year will be staged at Rho Fiera Milano from November 4 to 9, 2025.
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