28.06.2022

Manitowoc withdraws from Conexpo

In a surprise announcement today, Manitowoc which also includes Grove, Potain and National Crane, has decided to pull out of next year’s Conexpo exhibition in Las Vegas.

Chief executive Aaron Ravenscroft said: “Over the last 18 months, Manitowoc has taken a multitude of actions to manage inflation. Due to the several price increases that we have passed on to our customers, we do not believe it’s appropriate to invest in a second, large tradeshow at this time.”

“We continue to invest heavily in new products and look forward to showing our latest developments at the upcoming bauma show in October 2022. As an alternative to Conexpo, we intend to host a Crane Days event at our Shady Grove, Pennsylvania location at a later date.”

Vertikal Comment

In the past month or two there has been some debate over next year's Conexpo, which is scheduled for mid-March, due to the fact that this year’s Bauma was postponed from its normal March 2022 date and will now be held in late October of this year. The means that Conexpo will open barely four and a half months later. Both are very high cost events, with little potential for a large crane manufacturer to reduce the cost of exhibiting.

The move also casts further doubt on the viability of the other large, high cost show - Intermat - due to be held in April 2024. With more low cost, easily organised regional shows like JDL, Vertikal Days and Platformers etc... there has been considerable debate about the need for more than one global mega show every three years.

Having said that, given that Conexpo is Manitowoc’s ‘home exhibition’ as Bauma is Liebherr’s, this is a brave and surprising call.