The Seoul Motor Show 2005 was held for a 10 days period in Seoul, Korea from Friday, April 29 to Sunday, May 8, 2005. The show had a new venue this year, moving from its previous site, COEX (Convention & Exhibition Center) to the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) located about 40 minutes drive from downtown Seoul in the city of Ilsan in Gyeonggi Province. The Show marked the opening of KINTEX, and according to newspaper reports, President and Mrs. Roh Moo-hyun attended the Opening Ceremony and toured the exhibits.

The exhibition hall was brand new and appeared to be of extremely high quality. Permanent facilities included a snack corner, convenience store, bank/ATM, business center and cloakroom. Reusable “system panels” allow information booths, registration counters and temporary signage to be set up, giving the hall a very clean, organized image. Of particular note is the automatic entrance system installed at all of the gates and triggered by non-contact cards. Visitors were required to register upon entrance, and this appeared to double as a means of counting visitors, which perhaps had cost benefits for the organizers.

We visited on Press Day, so we were able to view the press briefings. Our first stop was the Lexus Booth where there were about 50 seats with press materials and commemorative gifts. Those seats were filled to capacity and another 100 or so members of the domestic and foreign press were crowded behind for the briefing. A live band performed prior to the briefing. A few words of explanation were spoken by a Japanese official and a local Korean (both spoke in Korean), after which the vehicles were introduced and individual questions were answered. The booth contained a concept car together with “Korea premiere” vehicles.
The press appeared to be extremely interested in the Honda Booth because the company is just now making a full-fledged move into the Korean market. Reporters crowded into the standing-room-only-space. Honda went all out for them too, installing a large “vision” system within the booth for the briefing. In addition to concept cars and “ Korea premieres,” Honda’s booth also contained “eco-cars” and F1 models in a full-force display of its technological strengths.
Among other Japanese automakers, the Infiniti Booth had all of its exhibition vehicles painted in a uniform black to highlight its luxury status. Mitsuoka was also on hand.
The Korean automakers, Samsung, Daewoo, Hyundai and Kia, all had separate passenger car and commercial vehicle booths. They were located at the wall towards the back of the hall, arrayed in a “u” shape to form a large booth of their own. Major European and American automakers like DaimlerChrysler, BMW and Volkswagen all had “Korea premieres” on exhibit. The Italian car design booth featured carrozzeria exhibits too.

Outside, there was a “4WD Adventure” space in a corner of the parking lot offering test rides on four-wheel-drive vehicles over a course containing artificial banks and bridges.

The Seoul Show attracted 179 exhibitors from 10 countries (130 domestic exhibitors, 49 foreign). A total of 1,095,000 people visited, setting a new record for Korean motor shows.