I've pondered this for awhile, and further evidence hit me today:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/05/losing-german-three-audi-joins-mercedes-benz-bmw-pulling-detroit-auto-show/
The "Big Three" German luxury brands Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW all say NOPE to showing at Detroit in 2019. This past year's 2018 show saw Porsche, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo take a pass as well.
In an era of instantaneous internet reveals broadcast globally, why show up to Detroit... in January... in a facility that's less than world class in the 21st century (sorry COBO). Is Detroit still relevant?
As much flack as people gave Johan de Nysschen moving Cadillac headquarters to New York, can you really blame him for trying to shake up the brands direction when his direct competitors don't even bother showing up to the show in Detroit?
Can Detroit's NAIAS succeed again, or will it's embers fade away? Pic source: https://www.hillgallery.com/untitled
Honestly even though on here I'm one of Detroit's biggest supports an promoters as a city and place to live. I've never been impressed with the show. Ever since I arrived here in 94 and went to my first NAIAS in 95 I've been amazed that anyone considers NAIAS to be a worthwhile show. It's a E36 M3ty event space that's been starved of investment and should have been bulldozed and replaced with something 3 or 4 times the size decades ago. Now with on line and destination reveals I don't see the point in autoshows as a platform for launching cars at all. If I were an exec I'd pull the plug on NAIAS even for Ford, Chubby and Fiat.
A few years back, LA moved their show to Dec and before Christmas. When that was done, it was considered to be a big blow to NAIAS's survival/relevance.
They are talking about moving the show to October to help with the crappy weather, but that's not going to do anything to help the fact that Cobo is too small. And it's not just Detroit, all auto shows are declining in relevance. Partially because of the internet, but also because CES has become a big deal for carmakers.
I haven't missed one since about 1987 or so, but the more carmakers drop out, the more I'll seriously consider skipping it.
The LA show used to loose cars to the Detroit show. My thoughts where: "OK, yes, they make the cars in Detroit, but they BUY the cars in LA"
I was amazed they would choose showing cars to other manufactures rather then the people who might buy them.
aircooled said:
The LA show used to loose cars to the Detroit show. My thoughts where: "OK, yes, they make the cars in Detroit, but they BUY the cars in LA"
I was amazed they would choose showing cars to other manufactures rather then the people who might buy them.
They weren't showing them to each other, they were showing them to the press. And the press would come because that's where the Detroit 3 would do their big intros. So it's kind of a big circle, but the more companies pull out, the more likely it is that the circle will be broken.
Tom_Spangler said:
They are talking about moving the show to October to help with the crappy weather, but that's not going to do anything to help the fact that Cobo is too small. And it's not just Detroit, all auto shows are declining in relevance. Partially because of the internet, but also because CES has become a big deal for carmakers.
I haven't missed one since about 1987 or so, but the more carmakers drop out, the more I'll seriously consider skipping it.
Agreed. Early October would certainly be easier to travel than January, but it may be more of a band-aid than a solution.
That would put it ahead of the LA show in December, but I also wonder what month really has any relevance any more in terms of introductions or model year availability. Does the month even matter any more in terms of industry reveals?
Tom_Spangler said:
aircooled said:
The LA show used to loose cars to the Detroit show. My thoughts where: "OK, yes, they make the cars in Detroit, but they BUY the cars in LA"
I was amazed they would choose showing cars to other manufactures rather then the people who might buy them.
They weren't showing them to each other, they were showing them to the press. And the press would come because that's where the Detroit 3 would do their big intros. So it's kind of a big circle, but the more companies pull out, the more likely it is that the circle will be broken.
Understood. But LA is a far bigger media location than Detroit... and it has far more car buyers.
I suspect is mostly just a historical thing to do it in Detroit. In the old days, moving the prototype cars etc. across the country was far more of an issue, so they did the reveals in Detroit. It also would allow them to push the deadline on finishing any cars more.
Not an issue anymore of course. It was just a bit dumbfounding when it was and not surprising they are moving away from it.
I think all major auto shows are going to disappear soon. Aside from being a massive dealer showroom, they just aren't fun anymore. Special cars are always leaked a week before the show and manufactures are starting to show new vehicles to the media away from the shows now. There are also no more concept cars, at least wild ones I remember from my childhood that you heard rumors about and had to go see it yourself. The "concept" car nowadays is just an already produced car with an updated body with "future technology" that ends up just being next years model. Everything is online today. The only reason people go is to stand in line for 3 hours to get a ride in a new Dodge Charger or Jeep Wrangler.
I hope they leave it as is. Its the only bright spot in a very long winter. Besides, if they move to October, it could fall during the Challenge! I have memories going back to being a little kid there, and have never missed a show since I could walk.
It's not LA that NAIAS sees as it's main competition, it's CES. from what I hear it's all but a done deal that it's moving dates. Thank the flying spaghetti monster. I hate traipsing in and out of Cobo in January.
Tom_Spangler said:
And it's not just Detroit, all auto shows are declining in relevance.
As I was saying: http://europe.autonews.com/article/20180517/ANE/180519813/vw-brand-pulls-out-of-paris-auto-show
Volkswagen brand will skip the Paris auto show this year, the company said on Thursday, becoming the latest and most prominent carmaker to ditch the biennial industry gathering in the French capital.
Adrian_Thompson said:
It's not LA that NAIAS sees as it's main competition, it's CES. from what I hear it's all but a done deal that it's moving dates. Thank the flying spaghetti monster. I hate traipsing in and out of Cobo in January.
...and there ya go:
Per the Detroit News "Detroit auto show will leave winter behind in 2020"
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2018/06/28/detroit-auto-show-moving-january/742994002/
