Auto Shows : They May Be Fun, but Dealers See Them as Marketing Tools

Don’t let the shiny new cars, attractive models and carnival-like atmosphere fool you, says Andy Fuzesi, general manager of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

“Yes, they are fun and entertaining for people, but that’s not why they are put on,” Fuzesi said of auto shows. “They are serious marketing opportunities for the manufacturers.”

From prototypes of high-tech engines to singers and dancers, the nation’s approximately 60 auto shows are geared with one purpose in mind: selling cars.

While visitors cannot buy cars at the Los Angeles show--which opens to the public Saturday--many of them will trek to local dealerships later on, says the Greater Los Angeles Motor Car Dealers Assn., which sponsors the show. In previous years, some dealers have reported after the show that up to 25% of their customers had recently attended the event.

Auto makers go all out trying to win the attention of show goers and the news media. New car and truck models make their debut, and designers show off the latest “concept cars” amid multimillion-dollar displays that are carted from show to show. In Los Angeles, exhibitors pay up to $40,000 just for floor space in the nine-day show.

“It’s expensive for us to do these things,” said Carl Sheffer, Western regional spokesman for Pontiac, which trucked in a dozen vehicles for its Los Angeles display. But, dealer “showroom traffic seems to pick up after each of the auto shows. It’s a venue I think a manufacturer can’t afford to pass up.”

Many auto show visitors are already in the market for a car. Event organizers contend that their shows help turn shoppers into buyers. A survey of people who attended the 1987 North American International Auto Show in Detroit found that more than 70% had bought a new car less than a year later, said General Manager Daniel Hayes. “We think that we had an awful lot to do with that.”

The shows and exhibitors are beefing up the consumer and technical information available. A new Ford display that will debut at the Detroit show next week does away with cars on turntables and pretty models in favor of information specialists and exhibits designed for families. The Los Angeles show, in its promotions, seeks to dispel the notion that the event is aimed at car-crazed auto enthusiasts.

Many of those who have never been to an auto show “somehow think it’s just for the enthusiast,” said Fuzesi. “This is an opportunity for everyone.”

While show organizers like to brag about attendance figures--more than 600,000 are expected at the Los Angeles show--they also seek the press in large numbers. Both the Los Angeles and Detroit shows--rivals for attention as the first major shows of the year--are quick to point out the number of visiting journalists. Los Angeles organizers expect more than 400 members of the media, but the Detroit show, which begins next week, has issued more than 1,000 media credentials

Los Angeles and Detroit “are focal points where the media gather,” said Bob Harnar, a spokesman for Ford Motor Co., which is using the Los Angeles show to focus attention on its alternative-fuel vehicles. “We use the occasion not only to introduce cars, but to make industrywide statements.”

Alongside their top executives and latest car models, auto makers have brought with them members of the rank and file. GM has flown in about 100 workers to talk about its efforts to improve quality. The Ford display will include 50 representatives from its suppliers and an exhibit that explains joint efforts between Ford and the United Auto Workers to boost quality.

But selling cars remains the heart of the show. Cadillac, for example, will field a sales force at its exhibit to take down the names of those who show interest in its 1992 Seville model, which will make its debut today.

The shows are also a major source of customers for makers of limited-production vehicles. Tony Santarelli, sale and marketing director for Callaway Cars, said last year, when it did not participate in the show, it sold only 65 cars, which are built on the body of a Chevrolet Corvette and cost as much as $105,000.

“They have never seen us before,” said Santarelli. “It’s a major expense for us, but we want to sell cars two and three weeks from now.”