By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 crisis has pretty much decimated life as we know it, and the concept of having an actual auto show seems about as remote as having a crowd of 100,000 at University of Michigan stadium (aka “the Big House”) for a football game, the auto industry is still kicking and screaming with new product intros galore and the need to show them off.
It’s no secret, however, that auto shows have been on the endangered species list for a while now. Auto companies decried the cost involved, even though they brought it on themselves with their bigger and more elaborate displays designed to one-up the competition. So, naturally, they started to get picky about when and where they would show up, or they abandoned auto shows all together in favor of targeted, singular media events where they didn’t have to fight for attention with the hordes of other manufacturers. As the manufacturers pursued this path, they discovered that they were getting more bang for their buck by eliminating the cost of staging auto shows multiple times per year, which was really bad news for auto shows in general.
And as various shows around the world started to endure cancellations from auto manufacturers, the Detroit Auto Show seemed to be called out more than others for various transgressions, both real and imagined. The Motor City’s annual rite was deemed a “homie” show, favoring what was left of the Big Two plus One over the import manufacturers. (I will not dispute this; it has been that, for the most part.) And, to make matters worse, having the Detroit show in January when the weather here is, shall we say, approaching inhospitable didn’t exactly endear the show to the masses in the media expected to attend either.
After years of hearing the negatives about its show, the Detroit Auto Show organizers decided to finally take one major negative about their show out of the equation, and that was to move it to a new date in June 2020. It was going to be a “spectacular spectacular” with a combination of indoor and outdoor displays, and assorted happenings to make everyone fall in love – or at least heavy like – with the automobile all over again. In order to pull this new date off, the Detroit Auto Show didn’t have a January show in 2019 but would wait for the new “big bang” show in June 2020.
And it was all good, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and planning for the brand-new, high-concept Detroit Auto Show was shelved until 2021. Meanwhile, the two other major auto shows in New York and Los Angeles had their own challenges. (Chicago is a big show, too, but it is known as a “retail” show within the industry, with the emphasis on showing – and selling – production vehicles rather than on unveiling concepts and future vehicles. New York announced the cancellation of its show – which is traditionally right before Easter – until 2021, which was totally understandable. Then, like a bolt out of the blue, the organizers of the Los Angles Auto Show – which usually happens right before Thanksgiving each year – not only cancelled the show for 2020 due to the pandemic but also announced that they were moving the date to May 2021.
As you might imagine, this decision was met with a resounding thud from all quarters. The auto manufacturers hated it because it meant three major auto shows in North America in three months – April, May and the new June date for the reimagined Detroit show. How would they apportion product debuts so closely together? Not to mention the expense and the logistical nightmares associated with slamming together three major shows back-to-back-to back.
And the New York and Detroit auto show organizers were apoplectic for similar reasons, with the added headaches of scrambling for plum debuts for their particular shows seemingly an instantly insurmountable problem. The L.A. Auto Show organizers figured that their move was the masterstroke, thinking that placing their show right in the middle of the two other major North American shows would pay off handsomely. We could hear the high-fiving all the way back here.
Big mistake.
While the collective hand-wringing in the industry was growing to a cacophony of grumbling and bad words over the L.A. Auto Show’s blatant move for glory, the real masterstroke was unleashed by the Detroit Auto Show organizers just three weeks later.
This week, Detroit Auto Show organizers announced that they would abandon their previously announced June date on the calendar and instead will step into the prime fall spot on the calendar left open by L.A.’s defection to May. Now, the Detroit Auto Show will take place September 24 - October 9, 2021, during two of the most beautiful months around here (the most beautiful months, as far as we’re concerned. -WG). This is a huge coup and it automatically establishes the Detroit Auto Show as – bang – the auto show in North America once again.
Will this automatically revive the auto show’s role in this industry? Not necessarily, but the calendar makes more sense now than it ever has, and if the show organizers in Detroit keep their promises, we’re looking forward to a spectacular show.
Sometimes things work out for a reason, and this is definitely one of those times as far as the Detroit Auto Show organizers are concerned. Nicely done, ladies and gentlemen.
Oh, and memo to the L.A. Auto Show organizers: Boo-Frickin'-Hoo.
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.