Volvo CE Pulls out of Bauma 2022 as Bautec Shuts Down

Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) will not be exhibiting at Bauma 2022 as it refocuses on its own purpose-built audience outreach that combines physical, digital and hybrid events.

In a press release that painted a grim future of the exhibition industry, Volvo CE said the Covid-19 pandemic had drastically changed customer behaviour hence the need for a new marketing approach that allows closer engagement with customers.

The company said the new approach would allow for a more flexible proposition whenever and wherever the customer desires to interact with Volvo products and services.

“Whilst physical interaction remains very important, we are beginning to see significant changes in the way our customers want to engage with us both digitally and face-to-face,” said Carl Slotte, Volvo CE head of region, Europe.

“This is driven both by technological possibilities of doing business more efficiently and the increasing need to do business more sustainably.”

However, Volvo did not rule out attending Bauma – or other expos – in the future.

The 33rd edition of Bauma, the world’s largest trade show for construction equipment, building material machines, mining machines, and construction vehicles, is scheduled to take place on April 4-10, 2022 in Munich, Germany. 

The trade show is held every three years in Munich. The 2019 edition attracted more than 620,000 visitors from over 200 countries and 3,700 exhibitors from 63 countries.

Meanwhile, Bautec – the international trade fair for building and construction technology – has been terminated over declining revenues that have turned it into a money losing venture.

Permanently cancelled

Held every two years in Berlin, Germany, Bautec was scheduled to take place on February 22-25, 2022. However, past revenues generated by the event have drastically declined in recent years forcing the organisers, Messe Berlin, to permanently cancel the show.

READ: Volvo sells 1m toys during worst months of pandemic

The 10th edition of the expo, which was held in February last year, attracted more than 31,000 visitors and about 450 exhibitors from 18 countries. 

“In recent years, Bautec’s profitability no longer reached the necessary levels. Despite the strong commitment of our long-standing partners and sponsors and the outstanding efforts of our colleagues at Messe Berlin in raising the standards of the fair, we were unfortunately unable to achieve the economic results we had hoped for and required,” said Karel Heijs, director of Life Sciences at Messe Berlin.

The cancellation of the exhibition comes at a time when brands are progressively focusing on increased investment in digital marketing channels and campaigns to replicate changing customer behaviour.

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