The Geneva Motor Show was finally due to return in 2023. But the organizers are still throwing in the towel. However, many electrified novelties were expected there.
The next edition of the Geneva Motor Show will be “exclusively” held in Qatar. A Gorafi title? No, the organizers of the Swiss show made this announcement by press release. The meeting in Doha, the result of a partnership signed in 2021, is scheduled for November 2023. But the important news is that the exhibition scheduled for next year on the shores of Lake Geneva has fallen to the end of ‘water. Still !
A traditionally annual event, the Geneva Motor Show has not taken place since 2019. As a reminder, the 2020 edition was canceled in extremis, three days before its opening, due to the start of the Covid epidemic in Europe. If the organizers had quickly given up on the 2021 edition, due to a still complicated health situation, they then had to throw in the towel for 2022 because of the economic context.
The brands were already questioning their participation in trade fairs before the appearance of the Covid, judging the investment not profitable enough. The shortage of electronic components, which weighs down production and therefore deliveries, and the soaring prices of materials, which weigh on margins, have not helped matters. The Paris Motor Show program in October will therefore be light…
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As a result, the organizers of the Geneva Motor Show are already giving up for 2023. The show was however to make its return in a reduced format (6 days only), less expensive for the brands. In a press release, Maurice Turrettini, the president of the show, said: “We did everything in our power to ensure that we would be able to host the Show in Geneva in February. The format developed and the project were very well received. But in the end, the risks were far too great.”
It evokes “the uncertainties weighing on the global economy and geopolitics, as well as risks linked to the evolution of the pandemic”. He confirms that in “These uncertain times, many brands are unable to commit to a show in Europe in winter.”
However, we imagined this show as that of the restart of the industry, after the worst of the storm, the opportunity to show a return to business, with a nice range of new products. We thought that brands were saving for 2023 and had planned to present new vehicles in Geneva.
For example, Fiat recently confirmed the presentation, at the beginning of 2023, of an electrified model for the B segment, probably an SUV. Geneva was the ideal launch theatre. The same goes for Ford’s second electric SUV, the Audi Q6 e-tron and electric Porsche Macan. We hoped to see the BMW i5, the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore or the Volkswagen ID.7. Stars of the market available in hybrid could have made their revival there, such as for example the Honda CR-Vthe Mercedes Classe E, the Skoda Superb or the Volkswagen Passat.
The European public therefore loses another opportunity to discover the new models in one place.