Having been sidelined for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Detroit Auto Show will sign its big comeback on Wednesday with a new approach, which is intended to be less flashy. eye.
The event now takes place in September, instead of January, in order to be organized partly outdoors. It offers pride of place to the many electric vehicles present at the show, a sign of the first steps towards the long transition of the American automotive industry.
US President Joe Biden will visit the show on the media-only opening day to promote the steps his administration is taking to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.
And the atmosphere promises to be different: at the height of its glory, the show was known for the petit fours and cases of champagne distributed by the major manufacturers in Detroit, but also by major international groups such as Toyota or Mercedes-Benz, during fanfare presentations of their gleaming machines.
An atmosphere that today’s organizers do not intend to reproduce, a sign of the profound changes in society since the last show in 2019.
“We can’t keep doing what we’ve always done,” said Detroit Dealers Association executive director Rod Alberts, “you have to take risks at some point.”
– Era “finished” –
Unlike when the show was held in the winter, visitors will have the opportunity to test drive the cars in downtown Detroit. “A living room above the living room” will come to show the emerging mobility solutions by air.
It is also a way of making up for the lack of novelty among automobiles, in particular due to the absence of major international groups.
“The days of show-stopping auto shows are over,” said Cox Automotive analyst Michelle Krebs.
The Detroit Motor Show is not the first to be faced with existential questions. In Europe, the Geneva one has been canceled for the fourth consecutive year and will move to Doha (Qatar) while the Frankfurt one has moved to Munich to become a show dedicated to “mobility”.
Scheduled for next month, the Paris Motor Show is expected to be smaller than in the past.
One of the main changes concerns the launch of new models, manufacturers having discovered during the pandemic the virtues of an online presentation, which is significantly less expensive than a stand at a trade show.
This is the choice made by General Motors for its highly anticipated Equinox EV, which was presented online Thursday, a week before Detroit.
“The way we unveil new products has evolved over the past few years to find ways to reach more people,” GM spokesman Chad Lyons said, noting that the Equinox and other electric vehicles of the range will be present once more in Detroit.
– Mustang –
It is however Ford which might create the event, by revealing to the public the seventh generation of its emblematic Mustang, on which the group has kept the mystery, in particular as to its engine, thermal or electric.
The launch of the Mustang was announced by the group’s general manager, Jim Farley, last July on Twitter, with a race bringing together the six previous generations and crossing nine states, from Washington (west) to Michigan.
Stellantis also plans to unveil some of its new releases in Detroit, especially the day before the official kickoff.
For analysts, the show should continue to evolve, moving away from the big media shows to get back to basics and closer to consumers.
“The customer experience, having a place where, without pressure, you can just see the vehicles, is very important,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of research for the automotive company Edmunds.
But Detroit remains a media event, with more than 2,000 accredited journalists from around 30 countries, and, according to Rod Alberts, the switch to electric also offers the public the possibility of “understanding these new technologies and better adopting them”. .
If it is difficult to have a precise idea of the influx following two years of absence, Mr. Alberts estimates that 500,000 visitors would be a success, for an event which attracted more than 700,000 at the height of its glory.
