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A swathe of big names have this week joined Daf and Scania in pulling out of next year's CV Show, prompting calls for it to become a biennial event. German trailer giants Schmitz and Krone, chassis manufacturer Isuzu Truck (UK) and reefer specialists Carrier and Thermo King have all confirmed they are not attending, with one claiming that the show's customer pull has "diminished". Additionally, refrigerated bodybuilder Gray & Adams is also strongly rumoured to have pulled out.

Keith  Child, marketing director, Isuzu Truck (UK), says: "As far as we are concerned, we have taken the difficult decision to pull out of the CV Show in 2009 with the solid intention of returning in 2010. "We are not launching anything and have nothing new to show, so we are taking the opportunity to save a bit of money and better use those resources on our sales effort elsewhere."

A spokeswoman for Krone adds: "We have decided that because the big players aren't going to be there, customer pull has diminished." Graham Eames, regional director UK and Ireland for Thermo King, argues that an annual show is unnecessary: "It can simply be an expensive flag-waving exercise unless you have something new to show.

"Talking to other exhibitors after [this year's] show we felt that we don't need it every year. I don't think our stand is overly complicated, but it takes a huge amount of organising. It's a pain in the neck and I don't think you ever get back the value of what you have spent  at the show." Isuzu's Child adds: "People have been saying it only needs to be once every two years and maybe this will promote that [idea]."

However, Kate Gibbs, spokeswoman for the RHA - one of the CV Show's co-organisers - insists it will be a success, adding: "We all know times are hard, but if you are not selling trucks, then times are going to get even harder." She also points out that it's the 300 to 500 smaller exhibitors that make up the bulk of the show: "For a lot of the smaller exhibitors it represents their once-a-year chance to sell their wares."