The Detroit Auto Show 2021 has been cancelled after organisers concluded the effects of the pandemic risked “asking too much” of exhibitors and stakeholders.
The event, officially called the North American International Auto Show, was scheduled to run in September in its traditional home of downtown Detroit, North America’s ‘motor city’.
Organisers are instead hoping to run a smaller outdoor event for enthusiasts at a racetrack in Pontiac, Michigan, in late September.
The Detroit Auto Show is run by the Detroit Auto Dealers Association. It was last hosted in January 2019 and dates for the 2021 event have been rescheduled several times due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2020 show was an early casualty of the Covid pandemic in North America.
“As we continued to watch the world and watch a vaccine roll out well in some places and not well in other places and still having lockdowns in some areas, it really became clear to us that we were not going to have the kind of show we wanted to have,” show chairman Doug North told Automotive News.
“Many of our stakeholders who have to make significant investments are all feeling the pandemic crunch in their budgets.
“It became clear we’d be asking too much.”
When asked by Automotive News whether the event would return in 2022, Mr North did not commit. “We can’t speak to the future because auto shows are being cancelled and postponed and terminated throughout the world.
“Not to mention they’re continuing to evolve in ways that aren’t traditional.”
However, he added, “we firmly believe auto shows have a place in the automotive world”.
In Europe, the Geneva Motor Show, which traditionally runs in March, has already been cancelled for 2021.
However, the biannual IAA Frankfurt Motor Show is currently still scheduled to go ahead in September – moving from its traditional home to a new location in Munich.
In the UK, the British Motor Show is scheduled to take place at a huge indoor and outdoor location at Farnborough from 19—22 August 2021.
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