AIMExpo 2025 - ' the best year yet '
It is already four years since AIMExpo converted to being an industry only three-day dealer expo , and , by general agreement among exhibitors and visitors , this latest edition ( Las Vegas , February ) was the strongest yet . Originally conceived as an ' American EICMA ', it was bought from the founders by the Motorcycle Industry Council ( MIC ) in 2015 . Covid forced cancellation for two years ( 2020 and 2021 ) and when the show reemerged into a decisively changed international motorcycle industry expo landscape , the MIC had taken the bold but correct decision to shorten from four days to three , reverting to the classic US trade show model of dealer and broader Industry attendance only . Among many exhibitors , there is still and always will be at least somewhat of a question mark over the dealer attendance ( especially in V-twin segment terms ) whenever the show , any show , is staged outside of the Midwest , but notably less so this year as a broader understanding of the show ' s hybrid industry status starts to be better understood . The MIC says that the show pulled 2,419 dealer personnel ( owners and senior managers mostly ) representing 1,060 dealerships , as part of a total industry attendance of 5,347 industry professionals - a number that includes exhibiting staff , media and 446 ' affiliated ' industry professionals . If the dealer number is accurate ( and there ' s no reason not to assume so ) then it would be a ( modest ) increase over last year ' s 1,908 personnel / 903 dealerships count for the 10th anniversary show , which itself was said to have been some 14 % up on 2023 . Either way , the MIC is calling 2025 " the biggest , best one yet ", and with 408 exhibitors occupying some 300,000 sq ft ( 20,000 sq m ) of exhibit space it ' s hard to disagree . However , we are well beyond just sheer numbers as being the best or only metric for measuring the contribution that AIMExpo is now making to the industry . Indeed , focusing on any quantitative metric is to miss the point - unless someone can develop a way to define the dollar value of deals done , contracts initiated , and connections made . The show is a global nexus at which , more than ever , the real action is as much further up the distributive food chain as it is with the dealer attendance . Manufacturers , brand owners and importers / distributors from all over the world are attending to meet existing and proto partners from everywhere else - not just the United States . It would be interesting to see international visitor head count and countries represented numbers . EICMA apart , not since the ultimately timed out and rather thin ' Distributor Expo ' concept has the industry had a focused forum for vendors and distributors , and AIMExpo is now successfully combining that into an event for the complete distributive chain . That event used to be staged at the old , now demolished Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas . That show was a child of its times and less satisfactory as a solution than AIMExpo already is . AIMExpo has the potential to be a global nexus and recognizing that with a formal , provisioned and equipped International Motorcycle Industry Business Visitor Centre would be another industry benefit . Exhibitors would also value such an initiative . While international visitors value their time at the show , they do find it difficult to register - their status in relation to the show is unclear to them and I often get asked why they need to pay . They don ' t - but integration into the show attendee process and experience could be better . Those remarks aside , all is good as far as I can tell . After starting at Orlando , Florida in 2013 , it moved to Columbus , Ohio in 2017 and saw an immediate uptick in its reach into the important ( in American market terms ) V- twin segment . The show then went southwest for the first time to Las Vegas in 2018 , before bouncing back to Columbus in 2019 . Then the pandemic cancelled all bets . The class of 2025 exhibitor cohort left Las Vegas with what was widely assessed to have been a successful week tucked in the back pocket . The 2026 move to Anaheim , California ( January 7-9 ) is dividing opinion , with sceptics having always pointed to California as being a place where trade shows go to die - dealers there are notoriously reluctant to attend . Personally , I think that there are enough dealers ( and custom shops ) concentrated in ' So-Cal ' for the present number of attendees to be sustainable there . Despite being notionally ' coastal ' it has the necessary hinterland gravitas to draw on . It will take time to settle in , but I have a hunch that for the ' Industry ' and international profiles of AIMExpo , the Greater Los Angeles area is not such a bad idea . Though moving on again from there could be a challenge to the momentum built so far . The idea of alternating between the southwest and Midwest , or even having two annual shows , should not yet be entirely jettisoned though . It would be a workload and logistical nightmare but even if each show was smaller , in combination they would square-the-Geo-circle . They would likely mark a net increase in market reach - delivering on the MIC ' s mission to represent as much of the American powersports industry as it can , as comprehensively as it can . That said , the MIC will always be hobbled in custom industry terms by Harley ' s refusal to get over itself and play nice with the other children though - its attendance for one year at Columbus looks like an aberration now . The fast-growing Harley-dealer-heavy National Powersports Dealer Association in USA ( NPDA ) took its first tentative steps into the ' dealer gathering game ' in 2024 . It staged its first annual ' Dealer Connect ' convention in Columbus , Ohio - albeit in September - and by all reports NPDA made a good start with it . They are now likely to want to develop and build on this . In trade show terms it would be a shame to see the market fractured again . Time will tell but either way , but meanwhile kudos to the MIC and its organizing team . They have worked hard to get the show to where it is and whatever happens now , wherever it goes from here , " they have done good " and given everyone in the industry something to build further on .
Robin Bradley
Co-owner / Editor-in-Chief robin @ dealer-world . com