GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Geneva motor show dead after more than 100 years
Doors to close permanently on one of the world’s greatest and longest-running auto showsThe Geneva International Motor Show, one of the world’s greatest and longest-running auto shows, has been axed after more than a century.
Organisers have cited “too many uncertainties linked to the automotive industry and the eroded attractiveness of the major European shows” as the reasons behind the permanent closure.
The show’s underwhelming return in February this year after a four-year hiatus – the cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – was the final nail in the coffin.
This year’s show was headlined almost entirely by Chinese brands and left-field mobility providers, attracting just one European car-maker – Renault – and drawing only 168,000 visitors, well short of the 200,000 targeted by organisers.
Geneva show president Alexandre de Senarclens said the organising committee had “tried to regain our success”.
“However, it has to be said that the lack of interest shown by manufacturers in the Geneva Salon in a difficult industry context, the competition from the Paris and Munich shows which are favoured by their domestic industry, and the investment levels required to maintain such a show, sound the final blow for a future edition,” he said.
The Geneva motor show was first staged in 1905 and has long been used as the platform for the world’s car-makers to debut their most important models.
Previous show-stoppers include the Jaguar E-Type, Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder SWB, Lamborghini Miura, Lamborghini Countach, Porsche 928, Audi Quattro, Ferrari 288 GTO, Lancia Delta Integrale, Bugatti EB110, Ferrari Testarossa, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Ferrari F50, Pagani Zonda, Mitsubishi Evo VII, Porsche Carrera GT, Koenigsegg CCR, Pagani Huayra, Bugatti Chiron and Bentley Mulsanne, to name just a handful.
The show’s biennial sister event in the Middle East, the bizarrely named Geneva International Motor Show Qatar, is still scheduled to be held in November 2025.
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Related: Geneva motor show spawns Qatar sister event
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