Tuning community gears up to shop and celebrate

Visitors were once again amazed at the highlight event of the European tuning scene. This year’s TUNING WORLD BODENSEE featured a greater emphasis on B2B opportunities for the rising global tuning industry as the show took on a new form: While the focus during the first two days of the exhibition was on business between the 235 exhibitors in attendance and their retailers, on the weekend the exhibition grounds hosted experts from the European tuning scene. A total of 87,000 visitors celebrated the beginning of the new tuning season in Friedrichshafen.

“From the impressive turnout on Saturday and Sunday, it’s clear that TUNING WORLD BODENSEE remains a strong draw for the industry,” said Harald Schmidtke, head of the Association for Automotive Tuning (VDAT) in praise of the exhibition. “Overall, it was a great event for car tuning and accessories.” At the show’s ninth edition in Friedrichshafen, individual customization projects were once again a major area of interest. Over 50% of visitors to the exhibition said they were interested in decorative modifications for their vehicles, stating that they hope the show’s emphasis on sportiness continues. Many tuning enthusiasts are also interested in modifying their cars for higher performance.

“Despite the fact that the show didn’t take place on a long weekend this year, large numbers of tuning enthusiasts made their way to the exhibition grounds, with tens of thousands of visitors on the weekend,” says Klaus Wellmann, CEO of Messe Friedrichshafen. Visitors to TUNING WORLD BODENSEE were delighted with the show’s expanded program, which included the opportunity to compete at go-kart driving against the record times set by two-time DTM champion Timo Scheider, as well as unique ideas from the tuning club scene. Highlights at the show, such as the MISS TUNING beauty pageant, the Falken Drift Show and the party nights, also remained a strong draw for visitors this year. “The interactive combination of infotainment and new arrivals at the exhibition offers a platform for the tuning and accessories industry, as well as for clubs and visitors, to experience true passion for specially customized cars,” says project manager Dirk Kreidenweiß on the success of the event.

Over 90% of visitors were pleased with the strong showing of car manufacturers with sporty factory accessories, including BMW, Citroën and Škoda, as well as with the large number of well-known tuning specialists at the exhibition. In developing new products, the industry is increasingly concentrating on components for the latest models from the automobile and sports car industry. Customizations for four-wheel-drive vehicles were also prominently featured at the show in 2011.

There are already promising signs for the tenth edition of TUNING WORLD BODENSEE. Next year’s exhibition will take place from Saturday, April 28 to Tuesday, May 1, 2012, thus offering better prospects for more balanced attendance figures across all four days of the show. Ninety percent of this year’s attendees indicated that they plan to attend the exhibition again next year. And of course, the car audio segment will also once again be a part of next year’s TUNING WORLD BODENSEE.