‘Brussels Auto Show’ sheds its skin and moves to Ghent

The ‘Brussels Auto Show’ (BAS), the Dutch alternative to the ostracized ‘Brussels Motor Show (BMS)’ of the Belgian car importers federation Febiac, had to shed its skin, becoming the ‘Belgian Motor Show’ and moving to Flanders Expo Ghent in March 2025.

The show, which targets car enthusiasts with supercars and lots of show rather than focussing on people looking to buy a new car, will be held during the semester break of 7-8-9 March. The recipe remains mostly the same, with 70,000 m2 of the show floor, including an indoor and outdoor Action Arena.

Outside in the Arena, there will be demos with rally cars, stunts, and a Drifting Show. Central on stage remains the ‘Car Catwalk’, an 80-meter podium in Hall 1 where supercars and rare classics are presented.

Limited to 30,000 visitors daily

The first edition, from January 17 to 21, 2024, succeeded with 122,000 visitors to the Heysel in Brussels, as the Dutch organizer 402 Automotive claims. Now, they announce to ‘limit’ the number of daily tickets to 30,000 to “give everyone more time and the opportunity to enjoy the supercars and hypercars, latest models and innovations, stunt shows, and drift shows.”

At that time in Brussels, it filled the gap left by the canceled Brussels Motor Show, but with the latter rising again from the ashes, the BAS organizers decided to move their show to Ghent and aim for a later date. That was more than convenient for the ‘revived’ BMS, as it could claim its ‘historic’ time slot in January again.

Shuffling with time slots

In May this year, Febiac first announced that – after a year of absence – the board had decided to reorganize a motor show event in 2025, not in January but in February. The reason for moving to the second month of the year was not explained clearly, but apparently, there was no available time slot left in January as the BAS had an option on it.

“In February, we could ‘only’ occupy four palaces, and we were concerned that we would not be able to accommodate all brands,” explained Andreas Cremer, outgoing CEO of Febiac. “Most car manufacturers also preferred the original period. With this decision, we can now satisfy all participants.”

The Brussels Motor Show has always been the most frequented public event in Belgium, with 500,000 or more visitors in less than two weeks. It always outperformed the popular Batibouw ‘building show’, the second most frequented on the Heysel, which averages some 175,000 visitors.