Automesse Salzburg 2023: The Dealers’ Car Show Returns After Three Years

Salzburg’s car show came back in March 2023 after a three-year break, and it came back as a dealers’ fair. The organiser, Messezentrum Salzburg GmbH, counted “über 30 Marken und 170 Fahrzeuge” from local dealers, on more than 15,000 square metres.

It called the 14th Automesse Salzburg the first after “einer dreijährigen Unterbrechung”. The show ran from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 March 2023 at the Messezentrum Salzburg, in Halle 10. We were there on the Saturday.

Two Fairs, One Ticket

The Automesse opened beside a new fair, the E-XPO 5020, which the organiser described as “Österreichs erste Nachhaltigkeitsmesse”. A day ticket for €10 covered both, and Mayor Harald Preuner opened them.

A special show, “Die Manufaktur”, filled about 1,000 square metres with traditional craft. The opening release also promised that some exhibitors would show “Modelle, die auf der Automesse bereits vor Markteinführung zu sehen sind”, without naming them.

The shared ticket has a cost for anyone measuring the show. The closing release says “15.000 Besucher haben sich am Messe-Duo erfreut”, a figure for both fairs together, and there is no number for the car show alone.

A Hesitant Buyer, A Faster Supply

Leadersnet, a business news site, walked the show on the first two days, and what it heard set the mood. Its report says that “kaum eine Marke ohne mindestens ein Elektroauto” came to a stand. But petrol cars and (plug-in) hybrids were at least as numerous.

Many private buyers were still hesitant about a pure electric car, Leadersnet reported, citing range, price, no home charging and the charging network. Company buyers were different, it said, even though the company purchase bonus was scrapped that year.

Supply had eased. Dealers told Leadersnet that delivery times had roughly halved from over a year, while inflation and higher interest rates brought “eine spürbare Kaufzurückhaltung”.

Show Bonuses And A Prize Winner

Leadersnet named the electric Jeep Avenger among the models whose market launch was still ahead. In our photograph a turquoise Avenger stands in front of a yellow board carrying the Car of the Year 2023 logo. The European Car of the Year jury had named the Avenger its winner on 13 January 2023 in Brussels.

The margin was clear. The Avenger scored 328 points, against 241 for the Volkswagen ID.Buzz and 211 for the Nissan Ariya.

At Sonnleitner, a green Dacia Spring wore a bonnet disc reading “€ 500,– Messebonus”. The small print applied it to financing and insurance through Mobilize Financial Services, for a new Dacia bought by 31 March 2023.

The card behind the windscreen read “ab 22.590,– €”. Another line, “Jetzt nur 16.980,– €”, is legible too, but the lines we could read do not show how the card gets there.

At the MG and Mitsubishi stand, a white MG4 carried a digital display reading “33.990 €” on its dashboard.

The one eye-catcher in the photographs is a red Ferrari 458 with a tricolore stripe on its bonnet, standing behind a rope. The photograph does not show which version it is, or who showed it.

We filmed the turquoise Avenger at Automesse Salzburg on Saturday 25 March 2023. Our Jeep Avenger First Look has the full story.

We filmed the red Ferrari 458 at Automesse Salzburg 2023. Our Ferrari 458 Italia Up Close article has the full story.

We filmed the Dacia Spring with the €500 show bonus at Automesse Salzburg 2023. Our Dacia Spring First Look has the full story.

Our Take

The 2023 show was the comeback of a regional dealer fair, and the trade press read its mood as hesitant buyers meeting a market that was suddenly easier to supply.

The dealers’ own paper shows how they answered, with a show bonus on a bonnet, a price on a dashboard and an award logo behind a car that had not yet reached its buyers.

That makes 2023 a useful baseline for Salzburg in 2026.

Independent editorial. No brand or organiser paid for or reviewed this article.