Is it true that car shows are no longer relevant?
More and more manufacturers choosing not to take part, says Lorraine Sommerfeld.
Do we still need car shows?
Various manufacturers have been sneaking out of them around the globe in recent years. Mercedes-benz cut ties with Canada’s smaller shows — Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Quebec City — in 2018, but also announced it will skip the big ones in Toronto and Montreal for 2020.
It’s also taking a pass on the granddaddy of them all, Detroit, which is now moving to the more-hospitable month of June instead of January for the first time this year.
BMW, Mazda, Audi and Porsche have already ditched Detroit.
Volvo has been missing in recent years, and Audi just announced last week it will also not attend the New York show, though it will be in Toronto.
Volkswagen opted out of the Paris show, with its group head, Herbert Diess, making the flat declaration: “Motor shows are dead. They are a product of the 1960s and they are not as relevant anymore. They’re not delivering what we want and they’re not delivering what car buyers want.”
Well, OK then. But is he right? In some parts of the world, attendance is in a free fall: Paris, which alternates with Frankfurt for hosting every year, saw attendance tumble from 810,000 in 2017; to 560,000 in 2019.
Toronto, however, maintains a strong attendance record, usually affected only by weather.
Car shows have traditionally been about two things: press days and public days.
During the press days ahead of the opening, journalists flock to discover all the new wonders that have been kept under wraps. With light shows, music, booming announcements and whisked sheets, we race from reveal to reveal, trying to be the first to launch news of the newest and greatest to the cyber-world, as if we’re about to see the Ark of the Covenant instead of a redesigned spoiler.
Except that’s not how it really works anymore.
Increasingly, manufacturers are opting for private events, held year-round, to introduce those who report on the industry to their newest developments in more intimate settings and offering up chances to drive, not just see.
But that is only one side of car shows. The other is arguably more important: the public days bring thousands of vehicles to hundreds of thousands of consumers. People who are looking, people who love cars — but also people who are buying.
As Ron Corbett with the Automobile Protection Association so succinctly puts it, “they are consumer shows first, and while they can be useful PR venues, the consumer aspect of the shows is paramount — and ignoring that many cheque-waving potential buyers seems foolhardy.”
It’s good to shift the focus onto the consumer. The years of glitzy, over-the-top amenities for journalists came to a thudding halt when the industry basically died in 2008. The Detroit show in 2009 was a funeral. Gone were the open bars in manufacturer’s booths, the free massages, the swag, the sorta-famous singers brought in for one song, the near-debauchery of too-much too-much. Under the glare of government bailouts, it was like the parents coming home early to a teen’s party. The industry needed it. So did a lot of the journalists.
Car shows remain the single best way for interested buyers to see the most cars under one roof in a few hours. Whether their research is starting here or this is the final step, it is an opportunity for automakers to connect.
Manufacturers will decide what works best for them, but I hope car shows continue. It’d be a shame to see them go.