- After a lukewarm return for 2024, the Geneva Auto Show won’t return for 2025.
- Instead, it’ll lend its name to an event in Qatar in late 2025.
The writing had been on the wall for the Geneva Auto Show for years, particularly since its first cancellation during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Now, the organizers have made the definitive decision to call it quits.
The Geneva Auto Show will not be returning to Switzerland for 2025, with no intention of revival thereafter. This iconic event, with a history spanning over 100 years, will undergo a transformation. However, its legacy will persist, as Qatar is set to host an event in 2025 under the same name.”
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The decision comes following this year’s return of the show after a four-year hiatus. However, it wasn’t the triumphant comeback many had anticipated. With only Lucid, the Renault Group, and Chinese automakers in attendance, the event failed to recapture its former glory. Ultimately, the overwhelming uncertainty regarding its future viability proved insurmountable.
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“This extremely regrettable decision should not detract from the efforts and determination with which we have tried to regain our success,” said Alexandre de Senarclens, the president of the foundation that organized the show in a statement for the press.
“However, it has to be said that the lack of interest shown by manufacturers in the Geneva Salon in a difficult industry context, the competition from the Paris and Munich shows which are favored by their domestic industry, and the investment levels required to maintain such a show, sound the final blow for a future edition,” he added,
Technically, this marks the end of the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS), despite its continuation outside of Switzerland, at least until 2025. Similar to 2023, it will reconvene in Qatar.
Sandro Mesquita, GIMS CEO, remarked, “For its upcoming festival dedicated to automotive excellence, and following a successful inaugural edition, GIMS Qatar can confidently rely on the proven expertise and capabilities of the teams that conceived and executed the concept.”
“It’s satisfying to realize that motor shows continue to appeal to brands in different parts of the world and that the Geneva International Motor Show has reinforced its appeal in the Middle East”, he concluded.
No doubt, it’s sad to see any long-standing automotive event go away, but popularity of such shows is up for debate.
Early this year, Stellantis announced that it wouldn’t participate in any North American auto show as a corporate entity. On the other side of the coin, the LA Auto Show was largely a success last year and SEMA continues to gain traction. In this case though, several brands didn’t think that the Geneva Auto Show was worth their resources for 2024 and now it’s gone.
Will others follow? Only time will tell.
