The Geneva Motor Show could make a return next year under an altered format, Automotive News Europe reports, following the late cancellation of this year’s edition of the exhibition in Switzerland, just days before its original schedule.
Due to the protracted Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 running of the Geneva show was announced in June this year to be cancelled, when it was also announced that its organisers, the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) Foundation, decided to sell the event to Palexpo SA, the firm which provides the venue for the Swiss event.
Now though, the revised plan sees the show shortened to just three days, down from the original 15 days, and it will only be open to members of media outlets, the magazine reported.
The revised show format will be staged at the event’s existing Palexpo venue on the outskirts of Geneva, in a mixture of physical and virtual events that include 30-minute press conferences held both live and via online broadcasts.
“This period of transition presents an opportunity for us to reinvent our profession, evolve our events and create new platforms for bringing people together both in person and virtually,” as written in a Palexpo promotional brochure sighted by Automotive News Europe.
The GIMS Foundation has offered to car makers three packages ranging from 150,000 Swiss francs (RM676,991) to 750,000 Swiss francs (RM3,384,766), though no manufacturer has confirmed participation in the revamped 2021 running of Geneva Motor Show yet, Autocar reports.
The starting package offers a one-car show stand with access for 10 media guests, and a stage with an LED TV wall, while the higher-priced packages can grow in capacity up to four cars and guests, the magazine wrote. It also notes that approval from local health authorities is another hurdle, citing the London Concours of Elegance as a recently held event, though that had taken place outdoors with limited capacity.
The 2021 edition of the Geneva Motor Show in its original format was cancelled as a majority of exhibitors stated that they would “probably not participate in a 2021 edition, and that they would prefer to have a GIMS in 2022,” the committee and foundation board stated in June.
The cancellation had resulted in losses of of around 11 million Swiss francs (RM49.5 million) at the time, and while a loan of 16.8 million Swiss francs (RM75.5 million) from the canton of Geneva was approved, this was under the condition that the show had to run in 2021, with the first repayment to be made in June 2021. The organisers have not accepted the loan due to the initial cancellation of the 2021 show.
Tags: COVID-19
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