Silicon Valley Consumers Establish New SJ Auto Show Gate Mark
16 January 2001
Silicon Valley Consumers Establish New SJ Auto Show Gate Mark
SAN JOSE, Calif.--Jan. 16, 2001--Reflecting its position as the number one new car sales market in the United States, the San Jose International Auto Show 2001 attained a new attendance plateau of 224,535 it was announced today by the Silicon Valley Auto Dealers Association, sponsor of the event.The attendance represented a seven percent increase over last year's show and catapulted the seven-year-old event over the one million mark in total attendees.
The five-day exhibition of new vehicles and factory concept cars at the San Jose Convention Center concluded January 14. Additionally, the January 9 Charity Preview Gala raised over $50,000 for eight local children's non-profit organizations.
Visitors to the show got firsthand looks at over 350 cars, light trucks, minivans, sport utility vehicles and nine futuristic concept cars, including Pontiac's Piranha, a new age, multi-purpose designer dunebuggy on a revolving turntable display that immediately became the show's most popular exhibit.
The surprise of the show was the debut of the Lexus SC430 convertible with a retractable metal hardtop. Scheduled for March 2001 arrival in Bay Area showrooms, the "Sexy Lexy", as it has been dubbed by Car and Driver Magazine, was surrounded by visitors throughout the show.
In addition to the concept cars, the San Jose show also displayed the Lincoln Blackwood, Buick Rendezvous and Chevrolet Avalanche prototypes and the debut of Isuzu's Axiom SUV.
Auto Show Chairman Mark Normandin expressed satisfaction with the continued success of the show but admitted that he is now confronted with an even greater challenge.
"When the SVADA inaugurated this show seven years ago our first challenge was to convince the manufacturers that this market was ready for an auto show," Normandin said. "Once the Silicon Valley consumer established that fact, then it became our responsibility to demonstrate to the consumer that the factories would support consumer interest with the best available displays.
"Now, with over 200,000 visitors for two years in a row, and a spectacular assortment of factory exhibits, we're challenged to find room for bigger and better displays," Normandin added. "The show producer (Auto Dealer Shows Inc. of Playa Del Rey, CA) has utilized practically every inch of available space in the convention center but they're headed back to their geometry books because we're already fielding requests from manufacturers for additional space for next year."
The eighth San Jose International Auto Show is scheduled January 9-13, 2002 at the San Jose Convention Center.