There will be no new edition of the Geneva Motor Show next year either. Corona and the global chip crisis are putting a spanner in the works for the organizers.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The important Geneva Motor Show will be canceled again next year. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the organizing Swiss foundation GIMS (Geneva International Motor Show). There are not enough commitments from automobile manufacturers for the exhibition originally planned for mid-February. Due to the corona pandemic, the trade fair had already been canceled in 2020 and 2021. The Geneva Motor Show is one of the most important motor shows in Europe.
The renewed cancellation for next year comes as a surprise. A month ago, the organizers had spoken of a sufficient number of participants. The prospects are good that the Geneva Salon can actually take place again. 60 percent of the exhibition space is already rented, said GIMS boss Sandro Mesquita in September.
The Geneva Salon justified the sudden cancellation with the continuing corona-related uncertainty. “The foundation would have had no alternative to indirect and direct Covid consequences,” it said in Geneva. Major travel restrictions are still to be expected in February. International trade fair visitors should only find their way to Switzerland to a limited extent. The organizers also fear weak media coverage if too few journalists come.
The deadline in mid-February is also problematic. The Geneva Salon would have moved further into winter, when the number of corona infections is likely to be higher again. Usually the fair is held a little later in March, when it is getting a little warmer again. However, due to scheduling difficulties at the Geneva trade fair, the GIMS date for 2022 had been brought forward.
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Worldwide shortage of semiconductors
According to the organizers, in the past few weeks there has been another reason why automakers have suddenly avoided the Geneva Motor Show: the global shortage of semiconductors. “The chip crisis will probably drag on into next year,” said GIMS boss Mesquita, “with corresponding negative consequences for the car manufacturers.”
Companies have rearranged their priorities and therefore decided not to appear in Geneva. The organizers of the auto show had no choice but to cancel the fair now. In 2023 there should definitely be a new edition, the current cancellation is not the end of the Geneva fair.
The competitors of the event are likely to have noticed the cancellation with great interest. Geneva is one of three major auto shows in Europe. The Paris Salon and the IAA in Germany, now in Munich, previously in Frankfurt, compete with the Swiss city.
Even before the corona pandemic, the major auto shows came under pressure. Above all, they suffer from falling visitor numbers. In addition, car manufacturers are increasingly asking themselves whether they should continue to spend tens of millions on their trade fair appearances. “Corona was like an accelerator, the pandemic only intensified this development,” said Geneva boss Mesquita in an interview with Handelsblatt in September.
Despite the pandemic, Munich managed to host a major auto show for the first time in September after a long break. The visitor interest was still subdued, especially international guests were absent. This could also have prompted the Geneva organizers to postpone their own trade fair for another year. According to current planning, there will be an auto show again in Paris for the first time in autumn 2022.
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