Organizers announced that the international Geneva Motor Show with a history of over a hundred years is closing forever. The reason given is the decrease in interest from automakers in an event that was once unmissable. However, an exhibition in Qatar will take place in 2025.
The first auto show in Geneva took place in 1905 and attracted 17,000 visitors. Two more salons took place before a break due to an economic crisis and the First World War. The event resumed in 1923 and reached its peak in 2005, when almost 750,000 people attended.
The COVID pandemic interrupted the show for four years. When the salon returned earlier this year, there were 37 participants and 168,000 visitors - significantly less than in 2019, a year before COVID, when there were 602,000 visitors and 184 participants.
Alexandre de Senarclens, president of the foundation's permanent committee behind the event, said the final cancellation of the show was "an extremely sad decision."
"The lack of interest from manufacturers in the Geneva show in a complex industrial context, competition from the Paris and Munich exhibitions, which give preference to their national industry, and the level of investment needed to support such an exhibition deal the final blow."
Organizers stated that they have requested the dissolution of the foundation from the canton authorities.
"There is too much uncertainty related to the automotive industry and the decreasing attractiveness of major European exhibitions to risk further investment in the future," the organization's statement said.
But the Qatari branch of the exhibition "continues its journey" after a successful first attempt last year, the statement said. The next Geneva International Motor Show in Qatar will take place in Doha in November 2025.
Source: TechXplore
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