"Exhibitors have been queuing to tell us about their successes," said Tony Young, show manager. 

"We're quietly confident that the final, audited figures will confirm a healthy increase over last year. 

"But in practice, the number of people is nothing like as important as their calibre and the quality of business they generate.  On that all-important yardstick, we've had another tremendous success."

The CV Show and ATS is the biggest and most successful event of its type in Europe.  668 exhibitors, up from 604 last year, showed a huge variety of vehicles, goods and supporting automotive services, with numerous World, European and UK launches.

"The number of exhibitors grows steadily each year and we're already taking very strong enquiries for stands at next year's event, running over three days from 24 to 26 April at the NEC," said Young.

The Audit Bureau of Circulation will audit the provisional attendance data and the CV Show and ATS management team hopes to have the figures to publish in June.