Final Report

As a gathering place for the tuning industry, clubs, and individual enthusiasts, the venue on Lake Constance is very popular: Messe Friedrichshafen counts 95,600 fans of automotive customization at Tuning World Bodensee 2023

Back in pole position: Tuning World Bodensee revs up again with visitor growth

May 21, 2023 | Friedrichshafen – May is a time of rejuvenation. Freed from the COVID-era restrictions, the 19th Tuning World Bodensee is presenting itself over the extended holiday weekend as a fresh and revitalized event featuring high-torque excitement for a young and diverse audience. Over the course of the four days of the event, Messe Friedrichshafen counted 95,600 tuning fans (2022: 87,300), all of whom could hardly get enough of the 900 exhibition participants from industry and the tuning enthusiast community, along with Europe’s best Show&Shine vehicles and dynamic shows. The event has also remained true to its long-standing formula for success by putting its focus on vehicle customization and offering the tuning industry a shared platform.

Tuning World Bodensee has been a trade show with “drive” for two decades now, and in 2023 it was able to really pick up speed on a fully occupied site with expanded thematic areas. “It was just incredible to see people flocking to the opportunity to experience the show live and in person. This demonstrates that we were once again able to win people over with our program, which corresponds to what the public wants to experience,” says Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann, who is pleased with the event’s success on the level of the pre-pandemic era. Project Manager Emanuela Botta, who gave the international trade fair event a fresh signature with the assistance of her new team, adds: “It makes us very happy to experience such a high level of tuning enthusiasm every day in the exhibition halls and in all the show areas. This also encourages us to examine the many suggestions arising from numerous discussions so that they can be optimally integrated into the 2024 concept.”

Harald Schmidtke, Managing Director of the German Association of Automotive Tuners (VDAT), also had this positive upshot to share: “This year’s Tuning World Bodensee has maintained its position as the spring event that opens the tuning season. The number of visitors clearly demonstrates that an emotionally engaging topic like tuning can’t be properly addressed just using social media, and that trade shows like Tuning World Bodensee continue to be vital.”

For many years now, the community has been celebrating the individual automobile in all its facets and having a great time doing so in Friedrichshafen. With more than 1,600 vehicles on display, there was plenty to see at Tuning World Bodensee, with modified electric cars also playing a role at the show. Exhibitor Björn Beisheim from Vogtland Autosport GmbH explains: “This year, we brought the topic of electric car tuning a bit more towards the forefront of our trade show presence by putting a Tesla Model 3 on display alongside a Cupra Leon Sportstourer plug-in hybrid. We were obviously surprised that the topic of electric cars found such broad acceptance among the many visitors.”

Another popular attraction was the newly designed Motorsport Experience in Hall B1, which provided a platform for companies involved in motorsport to enter into dialog with the target group of car fans in the border triangle region. Tuning kits, new engine technologies, and software optimizations brought the topic of performance enhancement to the fore. “We had a lot of interested parties as well as many other exhibition visitors at our booth every day,” says Marc Rath, Head of Marketing at 7MOD, explaining his positive impression of the event. “The location of our booth was great. We’re very pleased with how the fair went for us, and we will definitely be back again next year.”

Despite the many new ideas presented at the fair, Tuning World Bodensee remains true to its brand essence: love for extraordinary automobiles. Tuned cars remain the focus of the show, whether modified modern-era classic cars, super sports cars in current production, or iconic models such as VW Golf GTI, BMW M3, Honda Civic Type R, Opel Astra, Nissan Skyline, Peugeot 206, and many more. “For me, Tuning World Bodensee has been the kick-off of the tuning season for more than 20 years, and this year’s edition simply leaves me speechless. The creativity, as well as the quality and number of vehicles exhibited here at the European Tuning Showdown (ETS), on the Style Mile, in the Private Car Area, and in the Club Area, is simply unparalleled. A field of participants from 14 countries demonstrate that tuning creativity is boundless and that our community is alive and well,” says ETS organizer Sven Schulz.Knud Tiroch of Austria won the European Tuning Championship in Show&Shine with his Mercury coupé “Mercurius GTC.” Second and third place went to Christian Magass of Sweden (Infiniti G37) and Mark Denkhaus of Germany with his VW Beetle 1303.

The 2024 Tuning World Bodensee will be hosted again at the exhibition center in Friedrichshafen from Thursday, May 9, to Sunday, May 12. Additional information is available at www.tuningworldbodensee.de, www.facebook.com/tuningworldbodensee, and www.instagram.com/tuningworld_bodensee, #tuningworldbodensee.