The organizers of the 2020 Geneva International Motor Show were forced to declare force majeure, which means cancelling of the annual exhibition in 2020. Show set to start to March 3, but coronavirus has changed the plans cardinally.
Geneva auto show will not welcome any participant this year due to a decree by the Swiss government banning public gatherings of more than 1,000 people.
The virus originated in China is extremely dangerous not only for human health but for business too. COVID-19 is most lethal to trade shows—GIMS now lines up alongside GDC, the Beijing Auto Show, and Mobile World Congress as one more trade show taken down by the bug.
This year, many OEMs pulled out of Detroit’s North American International Auto Show that it decided to give up its traditional year-opening January slot for a chance of rebirth in June.
2019’s Frankfurt auto show was likely the city’s last—it had alternated year-to-year with Paris, but the organizers have already declared that 2021 won’t see a return to Germany, leaving no big trade show in the home market of one of several of the industry’s biggest players.
In other words, the next big car show on the horizon is the New York International Auto Show in early April, and the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association has no plans to cancel yet. Its organizers say that “the Javits Center is taking precautionary measures inside the venue to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, and the New York Auto Show will follow its lead to protect exhibitors and attendees.”
