Detroit Auto Show to be held off in 2024, return to January slot in 2025.
Organizers of the Detroit Auto Show have confirmed that the event will not take place in 2024.
Instead, the show, which has been held in September for the past two years, will be held in the traditional month of January beginning in 2025. The move will be a tailwind for city amenities such as restaurants and hotels during this traditionally quiet time of year.
"After discussions with a number of partners, we believe a January date makes the most sense," the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, organizers of the show, said in a statement released Thursday.
Auto shows have fallen out of favor with automakers and consumers alike, as many new cars accelerated during the pandemic are now being showcased online. However, interest in the Detroit Auto Show was already declining long before the pandemic effectively forced auto shows around the world into hiatus.
In an attempt to shake things up, organizers announced as early as 2018 a change to the festival format, to be held during the warmer months of the year. This change was supposed to take place in 2020, but was pushed back to September 2022 due to the pandemic. Last year's Detroit Auto Show was also held in September.
The Detroit Auto Show is not the only major auto show to suffer from a lack of interest. Germany's top auto show will be revamped in 2021 and will be held in Munich for the first time instead of its traditional venue in Frankfurt. The revamped show will also focus on urban and sustainable mobility solutions, as opposed to the luxury and high-performance vehicles that have traditionally dominated the show.
The annual Geneva auto show was also affected by the pandemic, with many shows cancelled. For this reason, the 2021 organizers signed an agreement with the Qatar Tourism Authority to share the hosting of the show between Qatar and Switzerland, the traditional host country.
The Detroit Motor Show news comes just weeks after Sterantis announced that it would skip the 2024 Chicago Auto Show to save money. The company also skipped the SEMA Show and the Los Angeles Auto Show last year, and a spokesperson said that future show appearances will be determined on a case-by-case basis.