The British International Motor Show (BIMS) is one of the oldest events of its type in the world, with the first show taking place at London’s Crystal Palace all the way back in 1903. Unfortunately, even an event as established as the BIMS has fallen prey to the global economic, with organizers announcing today that the show will not run next year.

Britain’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the official body that runs the event, stated in an official release that the “economic downturn and unprecedented challenges facing the auto industry, both in the UK and around the world, have made it impossible for exhibitors to commit to a 2010 event”.

What’s worrying is that the show may not return even after the economy picks up as the SMMT has already closed its exhibitions department. Last year the show saw just 472,300 attendees, down from a high of 709,422 just ten years earlier.

A list of exhibitors that have pulled out of next year’s event is yet to be released but over the past several months many major names, including Nissan, Porsche, Volvo, Rolls-Royce and Ferrari, have all revealed plans to pass up several international motor shows this year. The situation was getting so bad that many of these brands skipped January’s Detroit Auto Show and almost led to this year’s Tokyo Auto Show being canned due to low particpation rates.

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