Palexpo: No car show in 2021
COVID-19 isn't the only reason why the Geneva International Motor Show won't be held in 2021 either. Technological developments in the automotive industry are too uncertain.
Which format will prevail: The hybrid engine? The fuel cell engine? Even a gas engine? Or will the gasoline-powered drive remain? As long as this question remains unanswered, auto shows will have a hard time. The declining IAA, the showpiece of the German automotive industry, which has left Frankfurt for Munich following turbulence, is also suffering.
Yesterday reported the HandelszeitungThe committee and the board of trustees of the International Motor Show at Palexpo (pictured above) have decided not to hold the event in 2021 after its cancellation in 2020.
The Handelszeitung cites two reasons: The uncertainty regarding the health of the more than 600,000 usual visitors to the fair and the financial loss associated with the cancellation in 2020, estimated at 11 million francs.
What's next for Palexpo?
According to the Handelszeitung, the organizer GIMS.swiss is seeking to sell the internationally renowned Motor Show. The question is just what value the Salon still has as a Mergers&Acquisitions object after an ongoing economic decline in recent years and the cancellation in 2020. The brand "International Motor Show" is thus worth substantially less.
It is desirable that the Salon continues. It has partially reinvented itself in recent years with the co-operation with the Shift Conference of the consumer goods trade show IFA-Berlin. According to GIMS, the Motor Show generates economic effects for the region and Switzerland of 200 million Swiss francs annually.
