Motor shows are dead

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The Geneva motor has been nixed. Beijing too. What's next – the New York motor show in April, perhaps the Detroit motor show in June? Don't rule it out.

The COVID-19 coronavirus has been instrumental in the demise of a couple of motor shows as global governments attempt to reduce the risk of further infection by limiting large gatherings of people. But have these measures only accelerated the inevitable?

It's highly likely the traditional motor show could soon be relegated to the same cultural scrapheap as the landline telephone, Laserdisc movies and the Filofax.

Australia's last mainstream motor show took place in 2012, the Sydney based Australian International Motor Show. The high price of exhibiting and a lack of support the public sounded its death knell.

And the same thing is happening to other motor shows around the world.

Before the coronavirus-battling bans took hold, the organiser of the Frankfurt motor show confirmed that after 70 years in the German financial capital, the event would be scuttled.

It will be moved to a new city in a bid to reinvigorate its image and attract more foot traffic, but that’s far from a sure bet for success.

Car brands are re-evaluating their marketing expenditure, particularly when traditional motor shows don't always generate the return on investment desired by car-makers.

The Tokyo motor show was once a big deal, a biennial event, and well-attended by domestic Japanese brands. It has shrunk and changed venues from its heyday but still in 2019 the usual hustle-bustle hadn’t returned. Many European brands (BMW, Audi, Peugeot, Volvo, Volkswagen) decided not to turn up.

While a motor show allows the public to rock along and pore over new vehicles and concept cars, a lot of new metal gets lost as multiple high-profile unveils vie for attention from the media and public alike.

The advent of high-resolution streaming services and other technology has created more appealing (and more readily controlled) marketing avenues.

Take the Tesla Cybertruck reveal as an example. Okay, so the event didn't go exactly to plan when unbreakable windows broke, but it provided the brand with more time to demonstrate vehicle functions and list vital statistics on stage.

It was also streamed live to millions of eager viewers and, crucially, didn't clash with any other Los Angeles motor show global reveal that took place in November 2019. Best of all for a brand like Tesla, the crowd consisted of adoring fans.

The next major motor shows rolling out in 2020 are New York (April), Detroit (June) and Paris (October) and organisers will hoping that a vaccine for the COVID-19 will be available well ahead of time. If not they too could fall prey to the virus' sphere of influence.

But as the world continues to grapple with the deadly virus, its effects are arguably hastening the truth that the motor show as we know it is on its last legs.