Future of auto shows at a crossroads
As auto shows evolve after the pandemic shutdown of public events, two longtime leaders – the Los Angeles and Detroit shows – end 2022 in dramatically different positions. The LA show appears to be in a strong position, while Detroit’s North American International Auto Show is at risk.
The LA show kicked off by unveiling new versions of three iconic cars:
A desert-racing version of the Porsche 911 sports car.
King of the hybrid, Toyota Prius. Subaru Impreza RS all-wheel-drive hatchback.
The LA show also hosted the debut of two attention-grabbing concept vehicles that showcase new technology, styling or both: the Genesis X luxury convertible concept and Hyundai N Vision 74, a radical sport coupe powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
Concept cars are perennial crowd favorites, and the Porsche 911 Dakar is the kind of vehicle auto show organizers love: New and rare, and offering a oncein-a-lifetime chance to see something special from a legendary brand. Lowerprofile debuts included the electric Fiat 500e city car and facelifted Kia Seltos subcompact SUV.
“Vehicle reveals that attract media attention have an impact on consumer attendance,” said David Fortin, LA show vice president of marketing.
Auto shows are under pressure around the world. Many brands have shifted their vehicle unveilings from major auto shows to standalone events.
The LA and Detroit shows compensated for that with more indoor test tracks, off-road demos, electric vehicles, personal aircraft and an emphasis on family entertainment.
“If somebody leaves and didn’t have a good time, I feel like I failed,” Fortin
said.
The LA show features gleaming displays from nearly 30 brands, including substantial displays by several foreignbased automakers that shunned Detroit – to the dismay of their dealers in Michigan.
“Usually, the automakers’ regional and national organizations provide some support for local dealers’” displays at auto shows, said Doug Fox, a longtime southeast Michigan dealer for Nissan, Hyundai, Kia and Acura who sold his dealerships a few years ago. “Where’s our support?”
The Detroit show in September had what may have been the season’s single biggest new-vehicle debut – the 2024
Ford Mustang – but things fell off fast after that. Stellantis revealed a special edition of the outgoing Chrysler 300 sedan and Chevrolet had a display of previously seen electric vehicles scheduled to go on sale in 2023.
Exhibitors at the Detroit auto show were limited largely to Toyota and locally based brands – Ford, Lincoln, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, GMC and Ram.
Southeast Michigan dealers who sell foreign-based brands are smarting from their absence.
“Even with vehicles in short supply, it would have made a difference to be on the floor at the show,” said Jeff Tamaroff, chairman of Tamaroff Auto Group, which operates dealerships from 17 foreign and domestic brands in Southeast Michigan. “I want to see the factory have a display for each of my brands here. It’s a world market.
“If Detroit continues to get vehicle intros, they’ll be back.”
The LA show’s success attracting vehicle debuts is good news, Detroit show Chairman Thad Szott said.
“This is a good sign for all the auto shows! It’s nice to see LA get strong participation from brands that are strong in their market. Significant debuts are major attractions. Consumers love them.
“This is a great sign as we continue to
build energy and excitement for our own 2023 show.”
That’s an optimistic view.
Import brands dominate the LA market. They account for about 80% of sales there, according to S&P Global Mobility. They’re supporting the LA show with newsmaking, crowd-drawing new vehicles.
Detroit-based automakers came up small at home. They account for more than 80% of sales in southeast Michigan, but stunned observers by revealing their most important, high-profile new vehicles days before or after, but pointedly not at the show in their backyard.
Stellantis revealed the first all-electric Jeeps at a program in Paris a few days before the Detroit show. General Motors’ $107,000 GMC Sierra EV electric pickup and hand-built $300,000-plus Cadillac Celestiq luxury EV debuted a few weeks later, online or on television.
Even Ford, which provided the Detroit show with its sole real newsmaker in the new Mustang, unveiled its new Fseries Super Duty pickups two days after the Detroit show closed.
Debuts of new models and concept vehicles from the Detroit Three formed the backbone of the Detroit auto show’s success in recent years, but the locally based companies had given the show short shrift for decades. That changed when Toyota and Nissan embarrassed them with flashy global debuts of the Lexus and Infiniti luxury brands in 1989. Stung from being upstaged in their backyard, the U.S. brands put a new focus on Detroit revealing one high-profile vehicle after another in their hometown. The show became a major economic force in the region, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
For the Detroit auto show to return to its world-class status, the brands that dominate the market here will have to bring their A game to the next show, scheduled for September 2023 on Detroit’s riverfront, a few hundred yards from General Motors’ towering headquarters.
Without the attention exciting new vehicles generate, the show may continue to shrink and eventually die.