Manila International Auto Show 2011 Highlights and Fast Facts

April 14,2011

Some 85,000 visitors trekked to the Manila International Auto Show over last weekend in a 4-day auto show. From April 7 to 10, 2011, visitors saw over 400 cars of various shapes and sizes from on-road to off-road and even on-water amphibian crafts like the CROC (Coastal Riverine Overland Craft) manufactured and design in RP by experts in military type vehicles. A total of 415 cars were displayed including car club displays and show competition car, stunt show cars used for the performances of the Russ Swift Subaru show and test drive cars including the 4×4 outdoor Land Rovers from the Terrapod experience. The total crowd count was up by 7,000 from last year’s 78,000 visitors who went to the show last year.

A total of 16 cars were introduced during the show – Chevy Orlando, Chevy Cruze Diesel, Chevy Traverse and Cruze PHTc with new liveries, Audi A8L, MINI Countryman, Volvo S60 T4 and V60, Foton Custom View Van, Geely Emgrand and Panda, Hyundai Elantra, Chery QQ Electric Vehicles and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet, Porsche GTS, Subaru Forester while 9 companies had launches and presentations during the opening day.

Among the 400 cars, these would include 86 custom and classic cars displayed and competed in the 2011 MIAS Custom Classic Car Competition at the Philippine Trade Training Center. The recently concluded 7th Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) was held at the World Trade Center Metro Manila and its East Wing annex tent building and Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) building. Now with a total indoor and outdoor exhibition space of about 23,000 square meters, the show cemented its reputation as the biggest motoring event of the year. MIAS aims to boost industry sales beyond its previous performance with a well-attended selling event, given an unparalleled track record of 7 consecutive years of automotive exhibition excellence.

Last year, MIAS welcomed some 78,000 visitors, showcasing over 300 cars and 25 auto brands. Aside from the main World Trade exhibition hall and lobby of 10,000m2 and the 3,000m2 tent annex building and some 6,000m2 of outdoor exhibit and stunt performance area, MIAS has added some 4,000m2 of indoor exhibition floor space at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) building, still making MIAS the country’s biggest annual motoring event.

This year’s highlights included the Russ Swift precision driving stunt show, Car of the Year Awards Night, MIAS Custom Classic Car Competition, European Mobile Media competition, Top Gear photo contest and exhibit, 2011 car model launches, special vehicle and automotive heritage displays and exciting raffle prizes.

Due to the overcrowding, the entrance doors of the WTC were closed last Sunday for 6 times during the last day of the MIAS upon the instructions of the WTC due to the fact that the swelling crowd posed a crowd control problem. “We had to close the entrance doors of the World Trade Center last Sunday for six (6) times because of the swelling crowd. We need to provide some form of crowd control to avoid any problems. The entrance doors were temporarily closed for a few minutes each time to make sure the crowd finds its way into the main hall and relieve the pressure first.” Said Annabel Mariano, AVP for Operations of the World Trade Center Metro Manila. The crowd that was asked to wait for a few minutes at the entrance to the WTC as they went around the multiple activities and displays along the driveways of the WTC – the CROCs display, the Land Rover Terrapod display and EMMA (European Mobile Media Association) mobile audio competition as well as the outdoor car club displays.

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