Despite the cold winter, the 2014 North American International Auto Show ended on a successful note with the most number of attendees in the last decade.
The cold winter, icy roads and snowy weather did not stop car lovers from attending the 2014 North American International Auto Show. According to the officials, more than 800,000 people attended the event held at Cobo Center in downtown Detroit, which is the most number of attendees since 2003.
The lavish car show hosted 102,153 people Sunday, which marked the end of the 2014 North American International Auto Show held in Detroit. This was the highest recorded in the last decade where 838,066 people attended the event in 2003, a spokesman told Detroit News.
"We've come a long way in 25 years since the 'Detroit Auto Show' became the North American International Auto Show," Macomb Daily quoted NAIAS Chairman Bob Shuman as saying. "It was a privilege to see some of the members of the 1988 auto show committee, like David Fischer, Ken Meade and Gordon Stewart, who developed the plan that turned our show into one of the top in the world."
Car enthusiasts were not the only ones to attend the event. The show also attracted more than 5,000 journalists from 60 countries who watched the launch of 50 vehicles during the Press Preview. The event also housed 34,000 suppliers, designers, and engineers from 28 countries.
The auto show kicked off earlier this month with a black-tie Charity Preview featuring a performance by musician Sheryl Crow that helped raise $4.8 million for children's charities. The introduction of the all-new Ford F-150 pickup was one of the highlights of Press Days at the show. A race-worthy Corvette and a luxurious Mercedes C-Class among others stole the limelight during the event.
Many people battled the cold to attend the event, calling it "an annual pilgrimage and a chance to talk about something more warming than wind chill, snowfall and school closings."
