The 10th auto, logistics and transport exhibition ALT'2003 opened to enthusiastic public in Vilnius on Friday, also attracting exceptional attention from the country's top leaders. The Baltic states' largest auto show was opened by Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas, Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas and Transport Minister Zigmantas Balcytis at 10 am at the Litexpo centre. Following the official opening ceremony, the country's leaders walked through the displays for about an hour-and-a-half, stopping for a closer look at some of the latest car models. Mr Paksas, a motorcycling enthusiast himself, said he was pleased to see the floorspace and number of participants to have nearly doubled from the 2001 show. "I wish the companies that are present here to see their sales soaring as quickly as the exhibition is growing," Mr Paksas said. ALT'2003 has a total floorspace of over 25,000 sq m and is being attended by 190 companies, also boasting a record number of presentation shows. Fierce competition on the market is making car dealers try harder to attract potential buyers, and many have hired professional show teams to cheer the visitors. This year, the greatest crowds and action were drawn by dancers at the new Mazda 2 display of the Vilniaus Vista. For several minutes every hour, the same cheer team, one of the favourites among Lithuanian basketball fans, also entertained visitors near the latest Ford StreetKa model. In shows across Europe, Ford had hired the Australian pop star Kylie Minogue to grace this car. "Maybe you will not be offended by the fact that Kylie is not here today, but our dancers are not worse," the Ford marketing director in Lithuania, Justas Nekrosius, said. Break-dancers also performed impressive stunts once every hour near the new dynamic Mazda 2. Mazda dealers are convinced that passive displays in the hope that visitors will come to see the cars anyway are no longer adequate. "The auto show is the place where pleasant atmosphere should be created for visitors, making them feel special," said Rimantas Damkauskas, the Mazda sales director with Vilniaus Vista.

As in previous ALT exhibitions, the official Peugeot dealer Zibintas invited journalists for a traditional French dejeuner before the official opening ceremony. Zibintas' leading novelty is the robust Peugeot 206 RC with its 2-litre 177 bhp engine, which is presented along all the other Peugeot models. "Regrettably, we did not manage to get the latest Peugeot 307 CC convertible coupe for this exhibition due to immense demand for the car in Europe," Egle Jedzinksiene, Zibintas head of marketing, said. Meanwhile, the official Skoda dealer ARX ran into even greater difficulty, as the trailer carrying all of its seven cars for the show had got stuck on Poland's slippery snow-covered roads. As a result, the Skoda display was empty on the first day of the exhibition. "You are all invited here tomorrow - we will definitely have the cars by then," ARX General Manager Ceslavas Antonovicius, said, still in good humour. The main novelties in the Skoda display will be the most powerful modification of Skoda Octavia Combi RS and the economical Skoda Fabia with a three-cylinder 1.2-litre engine. Toyota was represented not only by three Lithuanian dealers, but also the pan-Baltic importer Toyota Baltic. Toyota's focal point was its new Avensis II, with a range of three exterior types on display. The official dealers' price for Avensis II is LTL 60,000 with a 1.6-litre engine and extremely generous equipment as standard. Even the lowest-priced models feature several airbags, electronic windows and mirrors, ABS with EBD as well as a radio/CD player and climate control. The cabin is as spacious as that of Toyota's class flagship Camry, which dealers say will be gradually replaced by Avensis II in Europe. Toyota also had good news for motor sport enthusiasts, announcing a new Toyota Yaris Cup, which is due to take place in Riga in early May. This year, there will be at least 12 cars in the Cup races, as compared with eight last year. Cup events are expected to attract more public as well as drivers from among motor sport beginners as well as celebrities. Six drivers are expected to come from Estonia and three from Lithuania and Latvia each. There are still a few vacant cars. All the contestants will drive identical Toyota Yaris cars decorated especially for the Cup races. The contest will be open to anybody willing to pay EUR 19,200 for a new car or rent one for the race for EUR 2,500. The rental price also includes the driver's suit and full technical support. The Toyota Yaris Cup is so far the only racing event in the Baltic states where the same new car model is used by all drivers. This year, it will consists of six stages, including two in Lithuania. The official site of exhibition is www.ratai.lt. The site contains all information concerning the exhibition, various contests, and it is possible to view the direct video broadcast from the web cameras. The site also contains photos from the ALT 2003 exhibition>>