The Geneva Motor Show, which has long been one of the sector’s major annual events, announced on Friday May 31 that it would be interrupted in the face of declining interest from manufacturers.
In a press release, the board of directors of the Geneva International Motor Show Foundation says it has noted that “the market conditions in Europe are not met for the success of future editions” and will therefore formally ask the authority to dissolve foundations.
This decision is “extremely regrettable”, declared Alexandre de Senarclens, its president, quoted in the press release, who highlighted the efforts to try to relaunch this event created in 1905. “But it is clear that the low interest of manufacturers for the Geneva Motor Show in a difficult sectoral context, the competition from the Paris and Munich shows, which are favored by endogenous groups, and the investments necessary to maintain a show sound the death knell for a next edition”, he said. -he adds.
After four years of absence linked to Covid-19, the show reopened its doors this year from February 26 to March 3 for an edition which – the organizers hoped – should have “made it possible to reposition and perpetuate” the event. The 2024 edition brought together 37 exhibitors and welcomed nearly 168,000 visitors, far behind the figures before the pandemic. In 2019, the event had 184 exhibitors and attracted 602,000 visitors. At its peak, in 2005, it welcomed up to 747,700 visitors.
Salon created in 1905
In the press release published on Friday, the organisers believe that the “too many uncertainties linked to the automobile industry” and “the loss of appeal of the major European trade fairs” no longer allow them to take the “risk of projecting further into the future”.
The version of the show organized in Qatar, on the other hand, “continues its journey”, according to the press release, after “a successful first edition” last October. The next edition of this show, scheduled every two years, is scheduled to be held in Doha in November 2025.
The Geneva show began in 1905 with a first exhibition in Switzerland dedicated to automobiles and cycles which attracted 17,000 visitors. Given the enthusiasm generated by the event, a second edition was organized in Geneva in 1906, then a third in Zurich in 1907, according to the show website.
But the economic crisis which preceded the First World War dealt a heavy blow to Swiss automobile production, which at the time included local manufacturers such as Pic-Pic (for Piccard and Pictet, which disappeared in 1922) or Martini (which closed in 1934). After several unsuccessful attempts to relaunch the show, it was not until 1923 that a fourth edition could be organized again.
In view of its success, a permanent committee for the Geneva International Motor Show was created, marking the beginning of what would become one of the major events in the automotive sector. By 1925, the show had more than 100,000 visitors.