The ‘Geneva’ International Motor Show is now officially dead.
After more than a century, one of the most prominent auto shows on the yearly calendar has been officially scrapped. Organizers attempted to make a comeback for the 2024 event — the first in four years, thanks to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic — but low participation means the Geneva Motor Show is well and truly done.
Even if you aren’t an auto show fanatic, this probably doesn’t come as terribly surprising news. Shows throughout the annual circuit have been struggling in recent years, even without the major disruptions from 2020 onward thanks coronavirus-related issues and subsequent industry woes (remember when we couldn’t stop talking about supplier issues and chip shortages?). Automakers have been pulling out of auto shows, events like the North American International Auto Show in Detroit moved from January to September, then back to January again…and now Switzerland, which served as a sort of neutral zone while shows like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Munich, Tokyo and so on present massive home-field advantages for their country’s respective manufacturers, is off the table.
“This extremely regrettable decision should not detract from the efforts and determination with which we have tried to regain our success,” said Alexandre de Senarclens, president of the Geneva Motor Show’s organizing committee. A notable absence of several major manufacturers as well as competition from shows in other countries which favor their home markets, he continues, were the final nails in the coffin for the show as we’ve known it over the decades. Attendance for the 2024 event fell to 170,000, which is less than one-third what it was at its peak.
That’s not to say some show won’t go on. Rather than host the event in Geneva, organizers are instead moving the 2025 edition to Doha, Qatar, in November 2025. It’s tough to say whether manufacturers will buy back into the show, even with a change in venue, as we’re seeing many more standalone launch events like the Jeep Wagoneer S that took place just last night.
