The Detroit Show continues to lose momentum: BMW is also giving up its 2019 edition

Detroit has traditionally been regarded as the car capital of the United States. The three major automotive corporations had their headquarters and main factories there, and this caused both the industrial parks where suppliers settled and the businesses flourishing around this industry to grow exponentially.

But times change, and globalisation is taking a heavy toll on Detroit. First, production of new models was lost in favour of other, more efficient and economical plants; then the large corporations moved, relocating their decision-making centres elsewhere or closing their old factories. Many suppliers left with them. And now it is the turn of the Detroit Show.

The main event for the automotive sector in North America at the start of each year has traditionally been the Detroit Motor Show. Together with Geneva in Europe and Tokyo in the East, it has traditionally been one of the three major global car events at which all brands strove to be present. But now, the situation is changing.

Similar events in Los Angeles and New York (held in January and March, respectively), or the growing importance of CES for the future of the automotive industry, are eroding the importance of the Detroit Show and reducing the impact of what happens there. If we add to this the gradual desertion, since the crisis, of an increasing number of brands at each edition, the event that was once the benchmark motor show in the United States seems to be dying little by little.

Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche and Volvo were absent from the edition held last January and have not yet indicated whether they will attend the next one. And some of those present, such as Aston Martin, Bentley or Ferrari, did not occupy their traditional space in the exhibition hall, and were only represented by a few units in the area known as The Gallery, an event preceding the Show where the year’s main novelties, chosen by the Show’s own organisation from among those on display, are traditionally unveiled to the media. This area was precisely the one chosen by Lamborghini to present the Urus, its new SUV, given that it had barely any space at the Exhibition Hall.

Local brands such as Cadillac, Chrysler or Dodge presented no novelties and held no press conferences at their stands. In fact, Cadillac gave up presenting new models in order to reserve them and unveil them at the New York Auto Show, which opened its doors on 31 March and where its head office is also now located. Something similar happened with other manufacturers (Alfa Romeo, Audi, etc.).

A change of focus and dates could give wings to the Detroit Show

The Detroit Automobile Dealers Association, the event’s organisers, is already working on new ideas to help reverse this very negative trend, ideas that would provide a new approach to the Show, more oriented towards spectacle, and it is even considering moving the Show’s dates to the autumn, which would clash directly with the European shows in Paris or Frankfurt, which alternate their timing in that same season each year. As for content, Detroit wants to transform its Show and focus, in addition to product novelties, on demonstrating the technologies that new cars are incorporating.

Furthermore, despite the severe municipal crisis caused by the gradual loss of population, the city of Detroit invested 279 million dollars in updating and improving the facilities of the Cobo Center to meet exhibitors’ demands, which adds, if anything, more pressure on the Show’s organisation, an event that draws more than 5,000 journalists from media outlets in over 60 countries, more than 23,000 representatives from 2,000 automotive companies, and injects several hundred million into Detroit’s increasingly battered local economy, a city that cannot afford to lose a flagship event like its Motor Show.

Even so, after Mercedes (and consequently its associated brands) renounced the next edition, announced by the brand with the star, it is now BMW that has announced its own. “This decision was taken because BMW Group is constantly examining our presence at trade fairs and other commitments, while at the same time also exploring new platforms and alternative formats to communicate our ideas and plans regarding future mobility in the best way and achieve the greatest possible visibility for our products, technologies and innovations,” sources from the German manufacturer told the media.