How are the trade fairs going?
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The Geneva Salon in March 2023 is canceled again – after the last editions had already been cancelled. The picture is from 2020.
Two weeks ago, news came over the tickers that no longer surprised any auto experts. The Geneva Salon in March 2023 is canceled again – after the last editions had already been cancelled. Few will miss what was once an annual motor show in Europe – only the local Geneva hotel industry, which often had its rooms paid for princely. The Geneva trade fair is said to have flushed around 200 million Swiss francs into the coffers of the region.
Almost two and a half years ago, the Geneva Salon 2020 was the first major car show that got under the wheels as a result of the corona pandemic and was only canceled shortly before. Financially she was helped out by an investor from Qatar who now wants to use the Geneva label for a luxury show in his own country next year.
Digital is better
Admittedly, the decline of the salon had already begun a few years earlier. Because the general loss of importance of motor shows in the age of the internet, smartphones and orchestrated communication campaigns by international brands could no longer be denied. Brands stayed away: First because they feared they would get lost in the cacophony of the trade fair with their new products. And then because many PR departments discovered in the Corona pandemic that inexpensive digital presentations often bring the same response as trade fair appearances.
Before the Geneva Salon, many other auto shows had already been affected, which have now either been canceled or have disappeared into local insignificance. London, Bologna, Birmingham, Tokyo, Chicago or Turin – none of them really matter anymore. In the coming month, the French capital Paris will once again try to attract car fans from all over the world to the lavishly dimensioned exhibition centre. But the Paris Motor Show, which alternates every year with the German IAA, has for many years been more of a national performance show than a leading international trade fair. But they don’t want to sacrifice the French home brands like Citroën, DS and Peugeot in the Stellantis group or Renault.
Even Detroit is going down the drain
What applies in Europe can also be applied to intercontinental events. The US trade fairs in Detroit, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles also only have a national character. The events in Chicago and New York are likely to be important from a sales point of view, but have otherwise been in the third league for a long time. The Detroit Motor Show NAIAS (North American International Auto Show) shows most impressively how far removed yesterday is from today.
Once upon a time, the European car manufacturers in the Cobo Hall in the heart of Detroit celebrated fireworks lasting several days with innovations, superstars and impressive shows – today nobody spends millions of US dollars for the trade fair in the former car capital of the world. The Detroit Motor Show used to be drowned in snow chaos at the start of the year in early January, but it was perfectly timed. Here we looked back on a successful year, there were automotive innovations and a lot of optimistic mood at the beginning of the year.
Rather at high-tech events
Today, the Detroit Motor Show in mid-September is an insignificant trade fair, even if the starving region in the north-east of the USA is slowly getting better and the hardest decades seem to be over. The motto of this year’s event next week: “The Future … is designed in Detroit”. That may apply to local manufacturers such as Ford, Jeep, Chrysler and General Motors – but certainly not to the exhibition.
Even before the corona pandemic, car manufacturers discovered other formats for themselves: tech trade fairs such as the Consumer Electronics Show CES in Las Vegas or South by Southwest. At a car show, you have to get in touch with the local local forces, coordinate things with the trade unions on the spot – tens of millions of euros can quickly add up for a trade show appearance. These are still handed out – but distributed at separate events where you don’t have to share the attention with other brands and innovations.
It’s still going on in Asia
The fact that the car trade fairs do not have to be completely dead is shown by events where the car acts more in the background or is staged in a completely different way. In the past ten years, the Monterey Auto Week, which takes place in the third week of August on the Pacific coast of Northern California, has long since become the world’s most important auto show. Once and still a luxury event, this fair has long since appealed to a wide range of visitors with its diversity and range.
On the other side of the Pacific, auto shows continue to play a bigger role. Although Japan, South Korea and especially the events in China have now become national events due to the pandemic, they probably have the potential to come back internationally to a limited extent.
And Europe?
The question remains as to where the upcoming trade fairs in Europe are headed. The first IAA in Munich in autumn 2021 was a terrific success – but only in the city center. Here in the “Open Space”, the International Motor Show – which had moved from Frankfurt to Munich – became a real folk festival despite Corona, because the weather was wonderful, the protests stayed within reasonable bounds and a whole metropolis of millions was able to celebrate. On the other hand, there was dead air for days at the exhibition center in Riem. It remains to be seen how things will turn out at the Commercial Vehicle IAA in Hanover in just under two weeks. The demand for the so-called IAA Transportation 2022 is greater than ever before. Despite the increasingly difficult general conditions, the commercial vehicle business experienced uninterrupted high demand. The topics are very similar to the car business with alternative drives, electric and autonomous driving.
And in Switzerland, compact car shows with comparison and sales opportunities for customers are still on course. Most recently, Auto Basel opened its doors again after the Corona break; Auto Zürich will take place again in November. Regional anchoring and proximity to normal customers – that could also be a trade fair recipe for the future.