Auto show organizers look to keep pace with last year.

January show fills newly enlarged Convention Center

An expanded Convention Center and good weather were boons for the 1994 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show: attendance for last January's event was up 40 percent from the previous year.

And while organizers are optimistic about the turnout for the 1995 show, expectations are that attendance will remain relatively flat.

"I think we're going to do as well as last year, but we can't expect the jump we had in 1994," said Andy Fuzesi, the show's general manager.

The show, which has many aspects of a trade event but focuses mainly on letting the general public view new cars, drew 722,000 visitors over nine days in 1994. That's compared to 516,000 in 1993.

Fuzesi credits the surge to the expansion of the Convention Center -- which was completed in late 1993 and doubled display space for the Auto Show to more than 700,000 square feet.

Running in the black

Fuzesi said the Auto Show, which gains revenue by renting exhibit space and charging admission, has been profitable in years past, but he would not disclose either earnings or revenue.

The show's approximately $400,000 marketing and advertising budget for the 1995 outing would be up slightly from last year, he said. Radio advertising will focus on luring visitors during the weekdays, when the show is less congested. More than 70 percent of the event's attendance occurs during the opening and closing weekend, according to Fuzesi.

Although automaker exhibits expanded last year to take up all the additional Convention Center space, there are no major changes planned for the size of the 1995 show displays.

What little additional exhibit space room is left in 1995 will go mostly to aftermarket exhibitors -- companies which can add customized features to vehicles. Aftermarketers were added last year as part of the expansion, and Fuzesi said the response was very enthusiastic.

"Eight months after the show, exhibitors were still getting inquiries," he said.

Drive race virtually

January's special exhibit will be a 21,000-square-foot interactive motor sports hall, which will feature computer-simulated race car driving and slot car races. Unlike previous years' exhibits, a separate admission charge is planned, Fuzesi said.

While all auto shows boast unveilings, there appear to be few of major import in 1995. Of the Asian automakers with U.S. sales operations in Los Angeles County, only Nissan and Honda will introduce new vehicles.

Nissan will introduce its redesigned Sentra subcompact, while Honda will show off its Horizon minivan, a new model. However, the Horizon has already been profiled in consumer automotive publications with photographs and the Sentra is scheduled to be profiled before the end of this year.

Buick, Mercedes and Pininfarina will unveil "concept" cars -- one-of-a-kind vehicles that may inspire future production models.