The trip to Essen every two years has been a fixture for those active in the tire industry within Europe and beyond for around half a century, but as of 2018 the renowned Reifen exhibition will have a new home some 45 miles away. The show’s organizer took the decision to leave the city synonymous with the exhibition after plans to modernize the ‘Messe Essen’ site were turned down by a local referendum on Jan. 19.

“I can confirm that as of 2018 we’ll be in Cologne,” Peter Hülzer, executive chairman of main show sponsor the BRV (German Federal Association of the Tyre Trade and the Vulcanisers’ Skilled Trade) told local newspaper the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on Jan. 21. At the same time, chairman of Messe Essen’s Management Board, Oliver P. Kuhrt, confirmed the direct link between the referendum’s outcome and Reifen’s departure from Essen. In a letter of intent written in March 2013, the BRV stated that the exhibition’s continued presence in Essen depended upon a final decision to go ahead with the modernization plans. “This was the sole condition,” Kuhrt shared.

Now, with a big question mark hanging over the Essen exhibition site’s renovation, the contract between the BRV and Messe Essen will not be extended after its expiry in 2016. And with Reifen’s departure, the German city loses a lucrative trade show – each exhibition is said to generate a gross profit of €3.6 million and also contributes to the local economy. (Tyres & Accessories)