American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 220 November 2017 | Page 18

After making its debut at Columbus, Ohio, this year with some 490 exhibitors and a total combined industry and consumer attendance of 18,176 (1,034 dealerships represented), AIMExpo moves to Las Vegas in 2018 (October 11th through 14th) to the exhibition center attached to the Mandalay Bay Hotel, Casino and Resort, before making a return to Columbus in September 2019 The move to Columbus, Ohio, for the 5th annual American International Motorcycle Expo raised the hopes of a hard-pressed V-twin parts and accessory industry. With the added impetus of Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle becoming exhibitors for the first time, would the move to the market’s midwestern United States heartland yield the hoped-for results? ell, the short answer to that question is yes and no; kind of, sort of, somewhat. It provided a foundation on which the show can build forward if the organizers now make the right decisions, but any expectations that the aisles would be rammed with dealers insisting that exhibitors accept their sacks of money were, sadly, not realized. There was a “just about” viable dealer attendance overall, but not the increases over that seen at Orlando that the organizers and exhibitors had hoped for. Not yet anyway. Well, that was the short answer. However, with most media outlets simply reporting the numbers and the basics without applying context, the reality (and certainly the long-term significance) of what was seen there was a lot subtler. So here is the long answer, starting with those basics. The 2017 American International Motorcycle Expo presented by Nationwide kicked off with ‘The Future Starts Here’ opening ceremonies that highlighted the primary challenge facing the industry – cultivating the next generations of riders, “and the critical need for all of the industry to come together to develop our future customers.” Headlining the opening morning and playing to a packed room were keynotes from Scott Wine, CEO of Polaris, and Matt Levatich, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson. In complementary addresses, each looked at the elements important to grow ridership, and of sharing the experience that we as an industry enjoy and know so well. W www.AMDchampionship.com Words by Robin Bradley [email protected] Pics by Sara Viney [email protected] Additional photography by AIMExpo The MIC also unveiled their new direct to consumer ‘RiDE’ initiative - a broad industry program aimed at family and youth audiences that aims to offer an “impactful first-ride experience”. Being staged in a partnership with noted Palmetto, Florida based purveyor of customer engagement and experience, Feld Entertainment, initially the program will see a multi-city tour of “first experiences” offered at 11 Monster Jam Truck events in 2018. Organizer MIC Events says that some 490 exhibitors had booth space inside the Greater Columbus Convention Center, which is actually up on the 451 seen at Orlando, Florida, in 2016; and with a record of 26 OEMs involved altogether, 9 of them offered demo rides at the adjacent AIMExpo Outdoors! With the show floor essentially sold out of exhibit space, available seats for demo rides outside ended up sold out for nearly all manufacturers – during consumer as well as dealer days. We here at AMD Magazine received mixed reports on attendances for each day – I guess one person’s good will always be someone else’s disappointment. The first of the two dealer/trade only days felt promising in terms of aisle traffic, with some we spoke with saying they were pleasantly surprised, but some saying they were disappointed though. Much kudo s to the organizers for the candour of their post-show press release – perhaps pointing to the benefits of the industry showcase now being owned by the industry trade association, they declined to hide behind the customary organizer hyperbole and told it the way it was, which in itself is interesting. “The second day did not follow on from the first, and dealer traffic was much AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - NOVEMBER 2017 18