Brussels sprouting: Could the Belgian motor show you’ve barely heard of become the ‘new Geneva’?

The startlingly consistent answer from nearly everyone we spoke to in Belgium last week when posed the question, “Have you been to the Brussels Motor Show before?” was “No”.

How is this possible for an event now celebrating its 102nd incarnation? The short answer is that although the first edition was organised as far back as 1902, the show hasn’t taken place every year. Blame two world wars, a world fair plus COVID more recently and because from 1978 the show started to alternate between ‘even’ years for passenger cars and ‘odd’ ones for commercial vehicles. Then in the 2010s truck and bus makers stopped attending in significant numbers and the show veered to more leisure-oriented vehicles.

And the Geneva motor show had historically been far more established, perhaps due to its more central European location proximate to key carmaker HQs in Germany, Italy and France. But then the COVID pandemic shut down the world – as the 2020 Geneva show stands were still being built – and its organisers subsequently angered too many carmakers by a lack of financial compensation after the show’s collapse. 

The ‘comeback’ European Geneva show was in 2024 but was a vastly reduced shadow of its former self as those burnt carmakers stopped supporting in sufficient enough numbers to resurrect the show properly. When it was announced there would be no future Geneva car show in Switzerland, a gap was created for an early-year (neutral) European event to balance the Paris and Munich car/mobility expos that now alternate every autumn.

Into the breach stepped Brussels, which now bills its motor show as the spot to peruse (and buy) cars, vans and motorcycles. This year’s event opened on Friday January 9th and runs until Sunday 18th and attracted a wide mix of European and Asian manufacturers, including a handful of world premieres on press day, including the Mazda CX-6e and Kia EV2. With four boots (or trainers) on the ground, Car Design News got walking and met many key designers – whose vox pop stories will follow later this week – and went on the hunt for trends. Here’s what we spied…

Colour 

There were plenty of prime colours on show, and although not entirely absent, there was certainly less grey than usual. Mercedes had the new CLA in royal blue, Renault showed the Twingo in a delightful pearlescent green and Toyota had its Yaris Cross in bright yellow. Most significant was Mazda's CX-6e, revealed globally not in the characteristic red but a deep purple, dubbed Nightfall Violet. 

We bumped into CMF designer Alena Gersonde who with camera and notebook in hand explained that there was "a long creative process" behind this new colour, inspired by the waterfall paintings of Japanese artist Hiroshi Senju. "It's amazing to see how it looks in person," she told CDN. "Under the light it has more of a vibrant purple tone, while at night it is much darker and deeper. That contrast in light was very important to us."

Wheels – dishy, daring, flat white and even ombré

Any car show will have a lot of wheels to watch, but the 2026 Brussels show still surprised with some different ones. The first to catch our eye were the simple but striking Renault RS Turbo 3E’s ‘flat white’ numbers, while the most unexpected were perhaps the red ombré versions on the one-of-ten Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Luna Rossa ultra special edition.

Other executions included simple steelies (some even showed sporty brake calipers behind) to multi-spokes and even some chrome. We saw some flat faced aero examples from a mix of brands including Audi, DS and Hyundai, although some of those were admittedly on concepts. What a pleasant surprise, though. 

Utility

We saw lots of roof racks and cargo boxes, plus lots of off-road/al-terrain tyres even on unassuming cars. There were even a few pop-up tents going on. Does this reflect the interests of the Belgian market, or is it a sign of broader industry trends around outdoorsy design? We are certainly seeing more of it. Citroen's ELO concept shown late in December 2025 brought in outside expertise from Decathlon (of camping, biking, hiking and swimming fame) for example, no less designed by a Belgian in Pierre Leclercq...

Exterior door handles – soon to be less flush?

After shocking stories of deaths in cars where first responders were unable to access passenger cabins with purely electronically actuated (flush) door handles due to power failures after crashes, the Chinese authorities are introducing new safety legislation. From Jan 1st 2027 all new vehicles sold in that country must feature door handles that can be opened mechanically from the outside. Which means current door handles that sit flush to the bodywork and normally open electronically via a remote plipper must have an easy mechanical override. That doesn’t necessarily mean the end of flush door handles – as shown on the Kia EV2, Mercedes GLC and numerous more in Brussels – but as China is the biggest car market in the world, it does mean the growing aero/aesthetic exterior trend faces an uncertain future. Meantime, the Dacia Hipster concept – gaining its first ‘motor show unveil’ in Brussels – showed a cool alternative.

Interior door handles – wider, horizontal and more human

We noticed this interior trend first on the Polestar 3, with horizontally-aligned and significantly wider electric door opening latches integrated into the armrests that were very pleasing to operate. At Brussels 2026, there were a host of followers, from the Renault Twingo, Mazda CX-6e and BMW iX3. Some of those brands still mounting their openers vertically are displaying design flair in ergonomic shape and human user experience too though. For example, the Firefly’s circular holed versions punctuating its interestingly calm cabin and Kia’s EV2 handles even offering the hope to ‘Have A Nice Day’ inscribed behind the handle itself.

Grilles 

Honeycomb remains the dominant face structure of recent years and was prevalent across brands regions, price points and powertrain types. Some grilles were open pore, some closed, some a bit of both. Is everyone copying each other’s homework? 

Merch — brand building the easy way

Most of the big European brands had their own store or "pop-up" with a selection of merch available, from clothes, bags and keyrings to miniature cars and watches. Brands clearly want to build a following with their audience in ways beyond the car itself, and touchpoints like these are easily accessible to the masses. Head LAMPS, not lightbars - we saw fewer horizontal light bars, although there were still plenty knocking around the show floor. Some stands seemed to merge into one another as a result — Xpeng and Nio the worst example. 

Smells — a shift in CMF brings unpleasant scents

Away from the occasional waft of fries and other fast food stalls dotted around the expo, many of the cars we sat in seemed to smell of plastic. Symptomatic of the shift away from traditional materials to synthetic alternatives, no doubt, but it did impact our first impressions of certain models, particularly those angled at the premium end of the market. Nothing a decent air freshener couldn’t sort we’re sure, but certainly something for perceived quality experts to look at. 

Music — from futuristic to slapstick

From wandering the halls, each press conference or launch would be signalled by some ethereal strings. Most EV-first brands seemed to employ their own variation of the Interstellar theme, while Renault had some great 80s/90s Hip-hop going on at its sizeable stand. Meanwhile, Mini deployed The Spice Girls at regular intervals alongside the flag-waving Beefeater who (gallantly) kept up the act throughout the day. Cringe inducing.