Geneva Motor Show 2024: A smaller show but with high challenges
- The Geneva Motor show is now coming back from 26.02. to 03.03.2024. It has been held every year since 1905 and was interrupted by the pandemic between 2020 and 2023 (2023 edition was held in Qatar).
- But this edition will take place under difficult circumstances. Already the last edition in 2019 welcomed 602.000 visitors, around 9% less visitors than the 2018 edition. The Qatar-Edition in 2023 could only attract 180.000 visitors. Additionally the European carmakers want rather to present themselves in their home-country exhibition. This could be observed at the Mondial Paris 2022, which was basically a French-Chinese show and at the IAA 2023 in Munich, which was a German-Chinese show. Or they wait for the new relevant Shanghai/Beijing Motor shows or recently the CES in Las Vegas, which drew major attention.
- Both, carmakers and event managers seem to have acknowledged those facts. The restart of the Geneva Motor show looks therefore rather small. In 2019 the event occupied 6 of the 7 expo-halls (surface:106 000 m2) and 93 exhibitors presented 29 novelties. This time there will be only 2 halls (surface: 60 000 m2) to visit with around 20 exhibitors from which only 4 are major carmakers: Renault, Dacia, BYD and MG. Others to mention are Isuzu, Lucid, Silence, Microlino and Pininfarina.
- The event managers want to fight the lack of exhibitors with a new show-concept. Therefore there will be additional and partially interactive show-rooms for car-related themes like racing, mobility, vintage or design.