Inside the Brussels Motor Show – where major car brands are unveiling their next EVs

Among the glitz and glamour of global motor shows, Brussels barely registers. But this year could be the year that all changes.

There used to be a clear cadence to the motor show calendar. We’d start in the US with Detroit, head to Geneva in March, then on to New York in April, followed quickly by Shanghai or Beijing. The closest thing to a British show came in the summer at Goodwood, before alternating in September or October between Paris and Germany (now Munich, previously Frankfurt). Tokyo rolled around every other year, before the season wrapped up in style at the LA Auto Show in November. It was a well-trodden path, with car reveals planned around those dates, and journalists trotting around the globe to see the latest models and chat to industry bigwigs.

Covid changed much of that, although Detroit was already struggling – not least because of the growing importance of CES, the tech show held in Las Vegas every January. Geneva disappeared, returned briefly, and now appears to be gone for good. Many of the remaining events are grappling with falling visitor numbers, reinventing themselves as ‘mobility shows’ or expanded test-drive experiences.

Which brings me to the Brussels Motor Show – for the very first time, actually. Usually, this event sits well outside the international show circuit. It is very much a selling show, with some reports suggesting that up to 40 per cent of Belgium’s annual car sales take place in January.

This year, though, Kia, Peugeot, Vauxhall/Opel and others chose to launch new models in Brussels. When that happens, company executives turn up – and where they lead, journalists tend to follow.

My star of the show was the new Kia EV2, a small SUV due to go on sale in the UK later this year from around £26,000. I reckon it’s exactly what many EV buyers are looking for.

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We also got a glimpse of DS’s sporting future with the Taylor Made DS No.4 Concept – so called because the brand’s British Formula E driver, Taylor Barnard, had a hand in its design. Peugeot revealed an updated 408, complete with one of the most striking new lighting signatures you’ll see this year, as car makers continue to exploit the ability to illuminate front-end logos.

Back at Kia, the brand’s sportier side emerged with the unveiling of GT versions of not one but three cars – the EV3 GT, EV4 GT and EV5 GT.

Then came the announcement of the European Car of the Year, which went to the Mercedes CLA. Its 800-volt technology, however, doesn’t yet extend to being able to use the UK’s network of 400-volt fast chargers. Bizarrely, that didn’t stop some of the UK jurors from awarding it top marks.

Watching each country’s votes being announced (until I got bored) underlined why the award is often dubbed the Eurovision Car Contest. The French jurors backed the Citroën C5 Aircross, the Germans voted for the Mercedes CLA and the Italians went for the Fiat Grande Panda.

It’s easy to imagine Brussels stepping into the space once occupied by the much-loved Geneva show. It’s easy to get to, neutral – with no indigenous car industry – and held at just the right time of year. And, as my travel colleagues at The Independent will tell you, Brussels is a great city to visit.

The show itself also feels just the right size: big enough to bring everyone together, but compact enough to offer real value to visitors. The old Frankfurt show, by contrast, was a literal pain – stretching over a mile from one end of the complex to the other, with some brands occupying entire halls.

Motor shows are also a useful barometer of the wider car industry. A few hours walking the floor and chatting to executives can tell you a lot about confidence levels – or the lack of them.

My takeaway from Brussels is that, despite the enormous challenges the industry faces, there’s every reason to feel positive about 2026. For car buyers and car fans alike, that can only be good news.

The article above is an excerpt from The Independent’s DriveSmart newsletter.

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