The troubled Geneva Motor Show has been canceled yet again, though organizers announced an alternative plan, switching from winter in Switzerland to autumn in Qatar.
The annual Geneva event, once one of the most widely attended of the global auto shows, was canceled just days before it was set to open in 2020, Swiss authorities ordering a lockdown to try to control the rapid spread of COVID-19.
The continuing pandemic, along with “the uncertainties in the global economy and geopolitics” have led organizers to cancel out the Swiss gathering scheduled for next February, they said in a statement. But that led industry watchers to question whether the financially plagued Geneva gathering will ever return?
“The risks overweighed the opportunities” of going through with the original plans to restart the show in Geneva, said Maurice Turrettini, president of the organization running the show, said on Thursday in a statement.
Financial headaches
The 2020 cancelation created severe financial headaches for both the show and the automakers that had already invested millions setting up their displays at Geneva’s Palexpo convention center. Millions more had been spent by consumers on advance tickets.
Organizers struggled to keep things going with financial help from the government. And they hoped to get back on a solid foundation in 2021. But even though Swiss authorities seemed ready to permit an event, so many automakers backed out it was called off again.
Concerns about COVID, combined with the semiconductor shortage, led manufacturers to once again cancel plans for a 2022 revival at Palexpo.
And the chance of getting things to come together for 2023 have been looking increasingly iffy, according to industry watchers.
Qatar and running
With the home event for 2023 now canceled, the real test for the future will be what happens in Doha in November when the Geneva International Motor Show Qatar is scheduled.
So far, organizers have not yet released a list of participating manufacturers, nor have they signaled which, if any, new products will debut in the Middle East event. Up through its last Swiss run in 2019, Geneva was known for attracting scores of automakers big and small, with as many as 50 news conferences during its two-day media preview.
“We are now fully focused on organising GIMS in Doha and look forward to confirming the dates and format of this ground-breaking event with our partners at Qatar Tourism shortly,” said Sandro Mesquita, CEO of the Geneva International Motor Show.
Auto shows struggle for survival
Geneva is by no means the only struggling auto show. The annual event in Chicago was delayed until July in 2021. And while the schedule returned to the normal timing in February this year, only about half the normal list of manufacturers participated. The 2022 show used barely half of its normal space at Chicago’s sprawling McCormick Place Convention Center.
The New York International Auto Show also skipped 2020 and 2021 and was downsized this past April from its busy norm.
In Detroit, the North American International Auto Show was canceled in 2020 and 2021, a big blow considering organizers had planned a lavish event to celebrate the move by NAIAS from frigid January to a new summer date. A temporary alternative took place a year ago at the M1 race track north of Detroit but it had few automaker participanting and only one real debut during its media days.
The Detroit Auto Dealers Association hopes to get back on track next month when NAIAS returns to the city’s recently renamed convention facility. And they are experimenting with an approach that will see displays and media previews held both in and outside of the Huntington Place Convention Center. So far, however, the reveal of the next-generation Ford Mustang is the only debut that has been confirmed.