Mercedes-Benz and Volvo weren't there. Almost no bikes either ; only Honda and BMW brought some. But what annoyed me - and that's why I didn't go this year - was the small display area. If you look the map at the link below, only five palais were used, compared to double that number before the pandemic.

https://askoto.be/en/motorshow/exhibitors

And having Hyundai, Isuzu, Maxus, MG, Silence (who?), Ssangyong and Suzuki stuck together in a quarter of palais 6 desn't seem like a good choice, even though they all seem to have the same importer.

Anyway the results are in.

https://www.moniteurautomobile.be/actu-auto/salon-auto-bruxelles/beaucoup-de-visiteurs-au-salon-2023-mais.html

Slightly less visitors than expected, but there was a 35.000 visitors per day limit. There was also a lack of affordable cars on display, which is blamed on either the push towards electric vehicles or on european manufacturers considering small cheap cars not profitable enough.

As I heard an expert say on VRT news, this also reflects the reality of the belgian car market, which is becoming a B2B (business to business) affair, with 62% of car sales in 2022 being fleet leases. And people who are lucky enough to get a company car often like premium brands. That's probably why BMW is the most popular brand in Belgium now.

Anyway, I'll probably go to the 2024 auto show, if the floor space gets back to pre-Covid levels.