There used to be a real buzz and energy about motor shows but over the last few years, they have been losing that special aura. The excitement associated with them seems to be a thing of the past as more and more carmakers choose not to participate due to the sheer costs involved. Instead, they’re reaching out to potential customers via standalone events using the far greater reach of the digital era rendering motor shows an endangered species…
The digital era is transforming the way carmakers are introducing new cars, concepts and their latest vehicle technology with more and more live online reveals and even debuts on video games and the shift is leaving more and more of the big international auto shows with less and less to cars to display.
The New York Auto Show is amongst the most high profile car events of the year but even it is grasping for answers as brands choose to opt out. BMW and Mercedes-Benz already declined to participate in the April 2020 event in the Big Apple and now Audi, the third biggest German brand, has also said ‘Nein’ to it.
The four-ringed carmaker is the latest from Bavaria to jump on the bandwagon and this troubling trend shows no sign of changing anytime soon. As for future shows, Audi said it would “continue to evaluate auto shows on a case-by-case basis”.
