In late March, CMA Expo held the first industry-wide 12 volt show in Canada since 2017, attracting over 300 dealers from close to 200 shops.
The car audio market is structured in Canada a bit differently than in the US– a major vendor might typically use only one distributor for the entire country. So the show’s exhibitors consisted of over a dozen distributors and suppliers representing over 80 suppliers.
And, as a distributor show, CMA Expo was also a buying show.
Similar to that of other recent shows in the US, there was an atmosphere among the attendees of enthusiasm and a determination to learn new technical and business strategies, according to the seminar presenters we interviewed.
Additionally, industry members were simply glad to see one another after a six year lull.
CMA Expo’s Ben Woo said, “I think the appetite for the Canadian 12V industry to get back to the in-person experience that only a live event can deliver was definitely long overdue.” He added, “We can’t speak enough to the collaborative effort by the industry as a whole to come up with displays and demo vehicles. It was a quality show. Manufacturers sent their best trainers.”
Overall there were 64 training sessions plus two round table forums—one on system building and one on marketing.
The show will return next year, with details to be announced soon, Woo said.
Exhibitors this year included Alpine, Automobility, Dix Performance, Fortin, Gemsen, Gentec, Importel, JVCKenwood, Metra, Pioneer, SiriusXM, Sony, Robert Thibert and Trends Electronics.
The Canadian market is following the same trends in sales as the US where after two years of double digit growth during COVID, sales have slowed. Trevor Patrick, President of distributor Importel said Canadian 12 volt sales began to slow last summer and are presently steady, on a par with 2019 levels.
For additional information on the CMA EXPO, contact: [email protected]
Our staff had a fantastic time catching up with friends and getting our learn on! It was much over due and Ben and Frank did a wonderful job organizing this event for everyone! We can’t wait for the next one.
I have been to many shows over the years. This one was special for many reasons, including it being the first one in what seemed like forever!
The amount of training, industry leaders, knowledge, effort and information was staggering. I wish it was another day so that I could have gotten to see everything.
Frank thought of everything. He found great people to help make this the festival of knowledge that it was. The facetime period with the vendors and their associated manufacturers was fantastic!
The round table events were eye-opening! The night time events were epic! The show was a major success from my perspective
Having waited for 3 years for CMA Expo, due to CV restrictions, there was naturally much pent-up demand to see how the 12V Industry has advanced, esp in Canada, where there is a serious lack of any 12V tradeshows.
By all accounts this inaugural Expo was a huge success and all of the sponsors were excited to see the turnout, from every Province. We were delighted by the excitement Retailers showed to our array of fresh, compact, advanced technology drivers, all of which are now on-track to ship this Summer. We look forward to supporting future Expo’s and to seeing many friends next Spring.