The Ultimate Automotive Extravaganza: Vietnam Motor Show’s Resilience and Triumph

Having gone through many ups and downs, from glorious periods to unforeseen challenges, VMS has persevered and continues to innovate to maintain its leading position, providing the best experience for visitors.

Accompanying Vietnam Motor Show through many seasons, Mr. Le Quoc Vinh, Chairman of Le Bros Company, shared his insights on the challenges and how the organizers have continuously innovated to make each exhibition creative and attractive to the public.

It is known that Le Bros has been involved in organizing the Vietnam Auto Exhibition for 12 years now. Can you tell us about the reason that made your company attached to this important event of Vietnam’s automotive industry?

The Vietnam Auto Exhibition, organized by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), has a journey of more than 20 years. This year marks the 4th collaboration between VAMA and the Vietnam Automobile Importers Association (VIVA), and it is also the first time that the Vietnam Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (VAMM) joins the event. Since 2012, with the increasing participation of imported automobile brands, we had the opportunity to approach and become one of the fairly consistent partners of VMS. At that time, automobile brands cooperated with each other, looking for new organizing partners that suited the breakthrough development situation. Le Bros joined hands with CIS Vietnam, a reputable exhibition organizing company with a similar philosophy of pursuing quality, to form a strong consortium that could meet the demanding requirements of automobile companies.

As we know, the Vietnamese automobile market is temporarily divided into two blocks – the domestic production and assembly block and the imported block. As the market becomes more vibrant, with the stronger participation of imported automobile brands and the emergence of more domestic manufacturers and assemblers, the requirements for organizers become more stringent, standards are raised, and especially, there is a constant demand for innovation in technology and communication. This is a challenge but also an opportunity for the CIS Vietnam – Le Bros consortium, as our two companies have set the highest standards for ourselves in terms of exhibition organization, event organization, and advertising and communication.

The history of VMS has gone through many ups and downs, with flourishing periods but also relatively quiet years. What are your thoughts on this?

The automotive industry and automobile market generally show a growing trend. But it is true that the automobile market is quite sensitive to economic fluctuations. I remember that there were years when, despite limited exhibition space, the number of car brands participating was very high, and there were no shortage of luxury brands. But there were also times when it could not be organized – for example, during and after Covid-19. There were also years when there were two automobile exhibitions, VMS and the international automobile exhibition VIMS for imported brands. There was a period when Hanoi lacked suitable infrastructure to host automobile exhibitions, VMS was scaled down and later moved to the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center – SECC.

Our consortium, CIS Vietnam – Le Bros, was not chosen as a partner every year. There were years when the factor of venue rental cost was so sensitive that we lost the bid because of a difference of a few percentage points. However, I must emphasize that, basically, VMS is a barometer, reflecting quite accurately the context of the market and the attractiveness of this industry.

Is cost a major concern for car companies participating in the exhibition, especially at this time, in the difficult economic situation and the cooling down of the automobile market?

For exhibitors, cost is always a consideration. At VMS or any other fair or exhibition, it’s the same. However, there are many aspects to cost. The cost of renting space and building exhibition booths is not significant. The CIS Vietnam – Le Bros consortium always has cost-optimal solutions for brands, and we even have solutions to support the exhibitors. However, the cost of investing in booth construction, organizing events, arranging personnel, and especially bringing new car models and new technologies to the exhibition is considerable.

We always strive to support the organization of exhibitions, communication, promotion, and attracting customers, including in digital spaces, so that the cost of car and motorcycle companies becomes an effective investment, bringing high benefits. I think that when car companies can balance their investment budget with business efficiency expectations, they will see VMS as a very interesting marketing and sales platform. For the automobile and motorcycle industry worldwide, exhibitions, displays, and demonstrations of new technologies and designs are an indispensable part of the market ecosystem.

So, communication, marketing, and attracting visitors are very important strategies for VMS, aren’t they, sir?

Yes, that’s extremely important for the organizer. Every year, we have to come up with an implementation plan that can attract an increasing number of visitors to the exhibition, both directly and indirectly. As you know, VMS has only been able to be held in Ho Chi Minh City, and until we can bring VMS back to Hanoi, we understand that bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors to SECC is only half the task. The rest is to introduce the new car models, new technologies to a wide range of potential customers across the country, attract them to the showrooms and dealerships of car and motorcycle brands, visit their websites, or stop by their fan pages on social media.

Communication effectiveness is not only measured by the number of direct visitors to the exhibition during the 5-day event but also by the number of target audiences we can reach, the level of interaction with the media products, and most importantly, the extent to which the messages that VMS and the participating brands want to convey are perceived. This is the particular strength of the CIS Vietnam – Le Bros consortium when contributing skills, solutions, and especially creativity to the VMS exhibitions that we participate in.

What role does technology play in organizing VMS, especially this year’s event?

Talking about automobiles means talking about technology. In addition to showcasing the latest automotive technologies, visitors also expect to experience new technologies in the activities at the exhibition as well as the application of technology in communication. From the early years of taking charge of organizing VMS, we have applied many advanced technological solutions and updated them every year. I remember that VMS was the first event in Vietnam to apply Bluetooth Low Energy technology, allowing product or promotional information to be sent to visitors when they entered the zones of each car brand.

This year, we also apply new technology solutions, from artificial intelligence, augmented reality, to image solutions. For example, we have applied Generative AI for VMS chatbots, text-to-voice technology for daily news, or AR in interactive games with target objects.

On the other hand, we also apply new communication trends to increase interactivity with users and audiences, such as livestreaming and podcasting. There will be many ways to create a rich experience for the target audience we want to attract.

It can be seen that we often face difficulties in bringing car models with the latest technologies to Vietnam, needing a lag of 1-2 years due to the policies of the State for foreign-imported models, which greatly affects the attractiveness of VMS to Vietnamese enthusiasts. What are your thoughts on this?

In fact, Vietnam is not yet a key market for the global automotive industry, so it has not been prioritized for access to the latest technologies. The Vietnamese market is also not big enough. However, car companies are making great efforts to introduce new car models and new technologies, keeping up with the world’s general trends. Therefore, at VMS, we will always be able to admire newer products, which may be the best-selling models in advanced countries.

As this year’s focus is on green and environmentally friendly technology, there will be electric and energy-efficient car models that use technologies to limit the impact on the environment. This is also in line with the government’s roadmap for emission reduction and the net-zero goal.

What’s new in the organization of VMS this year, sir?

I think that, in principle, the organizers always strive to improve the organization, especially for an event with a long history like the Vietnam Automobile and Motorcycle Exhibition. Professionalism and the ability to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of exhibitors and visitors are the top priorities. Every year, we have to listen to feedback from the market, from visitors, especially from the press and media, to draw lessons and improve every aspect of the organization and operation of the exhibition.

In the VMS exhibitions organized by the CIS Vietnam – Le Bros consortium, we always put the criteria of meticulousness, accuracy, and convenient experience first. This year, we also focus on creating interesting and highly interactive experiences for customers and exhibition visitors through the technology solutions mentioned above.

Another point is that with the entire exhibition space at SECC, much larger than in previous years, we now have motorcycle brands participating, further expanding the customer base for VMS. There are also many car brands participating in VMS for the first time, which will offer interesting experiences.

Thank you, sir!

TH (Tuoitrethudo)