The Geneva Motor Show is set to kick off on February 26 in Switzerland and the full list of exhibitors has just been announced. It makes for painful reading and shows just how quickly the event has slipped into irrelevance since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just a handful of big-name car manufacturers will be attending what was once the most important annual event on the automotive calendar. These consist of Renault, Dacia, MG, BYD, Isuzu, and Lucid. There will be a handful of smaller carmakers in attendance too, including Kimera Automobili, Pininfarina, and Microlino, as well as Silence and Totem Automobili.
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Don’t expect too many new car reveals scheduled for the event either, but the most important of these will be the launch of the long-awaited Renault 5 as well as an updated MG 3. Lucid’s presence at the event is a little surprising given how small its footprint in the European market is. On the other hand, it’s hardly a surprise that BYD will be there, as it wants to establish itself as a serious player across the Old Continent.
Organizers of the show say that this year’s event will have more of a focus on the public than previous iterations. One new feature of this year’s show will be an ‘Adrenaline Zone’, focusing on high-performance vehicles and motorsport, as well as a ‘Next World’ zone, hosted in partnership with Polyphony Digital where several Gran Turismo Vision concepts will be showcased.
While next month’s show will be small compared to pre-COVID times, the president of the organization behind the event, Alexandre de Senarclens, told Autocar that he wants to reestablish the event as the most prominent motor show in the world.
“We want to be back as the main international motor show in the world,” he said. “We had a very important place in that industry before, and we want to regain that. “We are convinced that we have an important role to play in the revolution of the motor industry, so the idea is to convince not only the public but also all the other brands that will not participate in 2024.”
