Mercedes-Benz Pulls Out Of Next Year’s Toronto And Montreal Auto Shows

Mercedes-Benz has announced it will attend neither the Canadian International AutoShow (CIAS) in Toronto next year nor the 2020 Montreal International Auto Show.

Car manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz have been limiting the number of major auto shows they attend each year. In 2018, the German car manufacturer withdrew from auto shows in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Quebec City.

“Sometimes companies do make these decisions,” CIAS general manager Jason Campbell told Auto News. “Nissan pulled out a few years ago and Volvo pulled out a few years ago, and they’ve come back into the show. Porsche pulled out and it took them a number of years to get back in. We would of course prefer to have Mercedes in the show, but individual companies will make their own decisions.”

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“We will continue to put on a great show and be the biggest consumer marketplace for new car sales in the country. We believe [Mercedes] will be convinced, and miss their experience at the show and hopefully look to reverse that decision in 2021,” Campbell added.

Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz was joined by the likes of BMW, Porsche, Audi and Mazda in skipping the Detroit Auto Show, arguably the most significant auto show of the year in the North American market until now.

The automaker hasn’t stated why it will skip those events, but in recent times, the reasoning for such moves has become increasingly clear: as everyone, including car buyers, is going online, manufacturers have started to realize they can reach a larger audience with digital marketing campaigns Than traditional auto shows – and save money in the process. Moreover, with new cars becoming more and more tech-heavy, what with electrification, infotainment systems and autonomous technology, they also choose relevant events (like the CES) instead.