2021 Detroit motor show cancelled

Organisers of the Detroit motor show have confirmed the annual event will not take place in 2021 due to ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) officials confirmed today that the 2021 Detroit motor show had been cancelled and merged into a smaller six-day event to be known as Motor Bella.

Held entirely outdoors, Motor Bella is set to take place in September as “a bridge to the future” of the NAIAS, according to a statement by the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which runs the Motown show.

Citing the impact of the coronavirus, NAIAS executive director Rod Alberts said the decision to move the event outdoors heralded a more festival-like direction for NAIAS, with performance and tech displays in place of regular static stands.

“We cannot ignore the major disruptions caused by the pandemic and the impact it has had on budgets,” he said.

“As such, we will be providing an amazing experience to the media, the auto industry and the public in a cost-effective way.

“The pandemic has caused changes in our society and world in ways not previously imagined, and we all should be looking for new and highly creative ways of doing business. This new event captures that creative spirit.

“It will provide new mobility experiences and increasingly innovative approaches to tapping into the industry and its products.”

Motor Bella was originally intended to be a standalone event for British and Italian supercars and classic cars, held alongside the Detroit motor show.

NAIAS organisers aren’t yet discussing which car-makers will and won’t be attending the Motor Bella event, held at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan.

Motor Bella will run September 21 to 26, with general public access opening on September 23.

The amended location and dates come as yet another blow to the humble motor show, following forced cancellation of other international events in 2020 including the Beijing, Geneva, New York and Frankfurt motor shows.

Organisers of the Geneva motor show, traditionally held in early March, have confirmed the event has not only been cancelled again in 2021, but scrapped altogether and put up for sale.

As it stands, the Detroit motor show hasn’t taken place since January 2019.

Following 2019, organisers planned to reschedule the annual show to the northern hemisphere summer, with last year’s event meant to open in June before COVID-19 forced its cancellation.