Listen
More than 500 cars from the world’s top auto makers are represented at the annual show and they fill out all 700,000 square feet of the exhibition space at Reliant Center.
Wyatt Wainwright is with the Houston Automobile Dealers Association, which produces the show. He says while Houston may not be one of the four major auto shows in the country, it’s important to the car industry.
“It’s huge. I mean, obviously these manufacturers know that Texas is going to be where it’s… I mean, especially if you’re in the truck business. So, you know, Ford, Chevy, GMC, Toyota, Nissan. This is where it’s happening.”
Of course, the 2015 Ford F-150 is also here. There’s been much talk about that truck because of its aluminum body.
The newest F-150 was first introduced to the world last week in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and to an exclusive audience in Dallas, but it will be the first time a broad audience will be able to view it in Texas.
Wainwright says auto shows like this one usually help boost car sales for the rest of the year.
“We just came off a really, really fantastic 2013, where we were up 7 percent over 2012, which is just solid growth. 2012 was a good year.”
And he says all signs point to another good year for auto sales in 2014.
The Houston Auto Show runs from Wednesday, Jan. 22, till Sunday, Jan. 26, at Reliant Center.