The recessionary pressure is bearing down on auto makers and that means that they have bare minimum marketing budgets. This translates into really bad news for the international auto show circuit which has already seen some cancellations. Now the 2010 British International Motor Show (BIMS) has been called off. England’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the official body that runs the event has communicated via an official release that the “economic downturn and unprecedented challenges facing the auto industry, both in the UK and around the world, have made it impossible for exhibitors to commit to a 2010 event”.

The BIMS is one of the world’s oldest auto shows, first held at London’s Crystal Palace all the way back in 1903. Another worrying factor for the auto show is that SMMT has shut its exhibitions department altogether which may mean that the show might not come back even when times get better. The problem is not entirely based on disinterest of exhibitors but also diminishing interest of show goers. Last year’s show had only 472,300 visitors, down from a high of 709,422 ten years earlier. That shows that since people have delayed vehicle buying decisions they are less keen on visiting auto shows. A row of auto manufacturers including Porsche, Volvo, Nissan, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce have already pulled out of many of next year’s auto events while many other auto shows are struggling to stay afloat.