This year was better than last, that’s for sure, even if the early start temperatures were in the minus figures, but that’s June at Mystery Creek!
As with most organisations/businesses, 2022 is a year Fieldays would rather forget.
The dates changed to completely the wrong time of year and visitor numbers were down to 75,000.
For 2023 and the 55th annual Fieldays, attendee numbers rebounded back towards the 100+ visitor numbers of 2020 and 2021.
Not only was the 55th year of New Zealand’s favouirte agricultural show worth celebrating – so were the numbers.
From the perspective of the automotive industry exhibitors, the engagement from the attendees was better, with a healthy number of orders taken and sales made.
While veteran auto exhibitors easily adapted to the renewed enthusiasm for Fieldays, those relatively new to the event enjoyed the strong levels of interest and the feeling of positivity which pervaded Mystery Creek.
Among the newer attendees at Fieldays this year were GMSV which had timed the launch of its two new Silverado pickups and the opportunity to show off the newest Corvette, which – while not much good at hauling haybales – certainly captured the attention of, well pretty much everyone.
Mitsubishi’s display was also surprising inasmuch as its rural hero, the Triton, was somewhat overshadowed by everything else, including a city electric car which the Triple Diamonds wanted to gauge public reaction. Triton of course, is due for an upgrade very soon, so it was Outlander and Pajero Sport which occupied most of the tent.
Mahindra was also at the show with its new XUV700 SUV parked right alongside the new Scorpio, with both vehicles attracting interest for first their quality and appearance and secondly for their keen pricing.
Toyota’s tent on the other hand focused heavily on the GR Hilux – a vehicle the brand clearly is pinning a lot of hop on from the rural sector.
Ford went to town with its utes on display of course, but once you got past the Ranger front line, it was townie city, with the Mach-e Mustang, Focus, Escape and Puma taking pride of place. The new e-Transit snuck in too, but it was there in a working capacity, powering Ford’s food hospitality offering.
Volkswagen was running a tent to rival prime sponsors Hyundai, but then this came as no surprise with the new Volkswagen Amarok just being introduced to the market. Like Ford, the Amarok brought you into the tent where Tiguans, Golfs, Touaregs, Transporters, Caddys and Crafters filled up a large amount of real estate.
Chinese automaker of the moment BYD decided Fieldays was a great opportunity to rekindle interest in the juggernaut that is the Atto3, but to also showcase the new Dolphin city hatch. There was a surprise instore however as the brand revealed the sedan due to arrive in 2024. We met the Seal and damn, that’s a fine looking all electric Tesla 3 killer.
Suzuki was slightly apart from the rest but largely because of its motorcycle, marine and automotive extravaganza allowed it to do so. The plucky brand from Whanganui bridged automotive with the rest of Fieldays very nicely indeed.
And speaking of bridging it would be remiss to ignore Isuzu Utes who actively support Fieldays every year along with Hyundai, the brand everyone knows from Country Calendar and therefore, is the automaker which calls rural New Zealand its garage. Hyundai’s new IONIQ6 nestled in among the second-generation Palisade, the all fuel option Tucson range and its big brothers the Santa Fe line-up which gave away the limelight to the new all electric Kona, among the passenger car range also on display.
All in all, a great four days out for the automotive industry in New Zealand, who just quietly, will all be back at Fieldays next year at Mystery Creek, 12 to 15 June. See you there!
