Automobile Barcelona expects to attract 300,000 visitors and adds Motoh! Barcelona

Automobile Barcelona is warming up its engines for a new edition in which more than 30 brands will participate, 40% more than the last one, in 2021, the first post-coronavirus. The show will feature more than 100 exhibitors and will occupy 100,000 square meters in Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc venue, dedicating a pavilion to Motoh! Barcelona, a show focused on two-wheeled motorized vehicles with which it had not coincided since 1999.

"Barcelona will once again be the motor capital," defended the president of the show, Enrique Lacalle, at the press conference presenting the 42nd edition. "We have never thrown in the towel," he continued, "neither in the worst moments of the pandemic nor in the face of supply shortages," without forgetting that Automobile Barcelona was organized two years ago when other shows such as Geneva were not. "The show, which continues to open when others close, once again demonstrates why it is a world reference," he remarked.

From Saturday, May 13 to Sunday, May 21, the show, organized by Fira de Barcelona with the collaboration of the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac), expects to attract more than 300,000 attendees, thus surpassing the figure it achieved in 2021, taking advantage of the addition of Motoh! Barcelona and the absence of restrictions. "At the level of a public show, Automobile is one of those that the city lives the most," explained the Director of International Business at Fira de Barcelona, Ricard Zapatero.

Automobile Barcelona will feature the participation of brands such as Dacia, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, SsangYong, Subaru, Suzuki, Tesla and Volvo. There will also be a prominent presence of local firms such as Baltasar, Ebro, Seat and Cupra, which will become the one occupying the most space, taking over the entire Plaza Univers. The rest of the exhibitors will be distributed among pavilions 1 and 8 of the Montjuïc venue, as well as on Avenida Maria Cristina, the area around Rius i Taulet street and the Font Màgica area.

The brands will showcase a total of 14 novelties in the Catalan capital, with three of them being presented for the first time at a worldwide show. These will be the Cupra Tavascan, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Ebro EcoPower, the model with which this historic Spanish firm wants to reactivate the Zona Franca lands that Nissan has left empty.

For its part, Motoh! Barcelona will have more than 40 exhibitors from Thursday, May 11 to Sunday, May 14. It will be the first time it is held since 2019, its director, José Miguel García, recalled, opening the possibility of repeating the alliance with Automobile if it works this year. Brands such as BMW Motorrad, Harley Davidson, Kawasaki and Yamaha will participate, with some of them doing double duty and also being present in the spaces occupied by Automobile.

Electric and hybrid vehicles will once again have a special role in the show, which has chosen Electrifying as its motto for this edition. "Automobile is a great way to reach the public and show all the products that exist. It has to be a great showcase and a great commercial tool for all brands," Zapatero pointed out. Specifically, the show will feature the Electric zone, where 13 electrified models will be exhibited, and the e-Motorsport Show, a demonstration space with which this new modality is intended to be made attractive.

Electric and hybrid vehicles will once again have a special role in the show, which has chosen Electrifying as its motto for this edition

"This is the place where the automotive sector has to be," remarked the general director of Anfac, José López-Tafall. The employers' association expects to continue with the good evolution of sales it is registering in the first months of the year, with a growth until April of 33% compared to last year, despite the fact that the supply crisis and delivery delays persist: "The trend is good, but we are not going to have a year like 2019."