COMPLAINTS about the cost of staging two major Australian car shows a year have forced organisers to plan holding the Melbourne and Sydney events in alternate years.

The Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, which has run Melbourne’s show for 76 years, has been forced to rethink the way it stages the event after car companies started to question the cost of holding shows in Sydney and Melbourne each year.

Executive director David Purchase confirmed yesterday that the VACC was close to reaching an agreement with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, the organisers of Sydney’s motor show, over how to stage future events.

A decision was likely within a week, he said, the most likely outcome being Melbourne and Sydney sharing the show from year to year, with Melbourne hosting a smaller show in the years that Sydney held the international version.

Last month’s Sydney motor show was branded a failure after several major marques, including German luxury giants Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, stayed away. So did the crowds, with numbers well down on the previous year’s figures.

Mr Purchase said floor space at February’s Melbourne International Motor Show was almost fully sold, and that the event was expected to be just as big a drawcard as in previous years.

Last year the VACC sold 240,000 tickets for the 10 days of the show — more than were sold for the State Government-sponsored Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, he said.

Organisers for Brisbane’s motor show, scheduled for March next year, announced this week that the event was cancelled after several car makers pulled out, citing the tougher global economy. They now plan to hold the event in 2010.

Source: The Age