2011 proved to be a year of milestones for the Dallas Auto Show. Not only did the Show celebrate its 30th anniversary, it was also the first ever auto show produced by the all-new Dallas Fort Worth Metropolitan New Car Dealers Association.
“The Dallas Auto Show was presented with a number of challenges this year; April dates, nice weather, and a variety of other events that coincided with the Show such as the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway, a Dallas Mavericks game and a Dallas Stars game,” said David Thomas, 2011 Dallas Auto Show chairman. “However, the Dallas Auto Show not only accepted all challenges, it overcame them by tallying a final attendance of 328,251.”
Many manufacturers, dealers and media agreed that the 30th Show topped the list of most successful Dallas Auto Shows, with Car Pro Jerry Reynolds proclaiming on Facebook, “This is the BEST Dallas Auto Show EVER!”
A myriad 2012 models and concept vehicles were presented by Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Buick, Chevrolet, Fiat, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. A “green” spotlight was on the Chevrolet Volt, Mitsubishi “i” and Nissan Leaf as well as numerous other hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles. In addition, the return of Bentley and newcomers Rolls Royce and Bugatti proved to be big draws for the Show.
“The kudos from our manufacturers and other exhibitors for the Show were many this year,” said Lee J Chapman, DFW NCDA president. “Not only have we already received requests from some manufactures to increase their space, many of our Allied exhibitors are wanting to commit to the 2012 Dallas Auto Show a year in advance. These are true testaments to how successful the 2011 Show was.”
Additional highlights of the 2011 Dallas Auto Show included: great shopping opportunities in the Allied and “Green” Exhibit areas; an autograph signing with Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten in the State Farm exhibit; classic car exhibits; games and contests from the Media; doggie adoptions from Dallas Animal Services; and a Community Service area featuring Straydog, Inc., Texas Adopt a Greyhound Society and Texas Museum of Automotive History.
On Saturday and Sunday, Univision presented four workshops on the safe installation of child passenger safety seats. Texas Auto Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority educated consumers on auto theft prevention, while the Dallas Fire Rescue Department offered fire safety information.
The Dallas Auto Show experience also was amped up a notch this year with the addition of the first-ever Ride & Drive event. More than 40 models from Ford, General Motors, Kia, Subaru and Toyota were available to Dallas Auto Show attendees to test drive.
“This was a terrific opportunity for consumers to test drive a variety of makes and models they saw inside the Dallas Auto Show. Consumers could choose from sedans, coupes, SUVs, pickups and even hybrids to take for a spin in downtown Dallas,” said David Thomas, 2011 Dallas Auto Show chairman.