The 2021 Geneva Motor Show was cancelled not only for its "financial effect" but also for concerns about the rate of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event took shape this year. On Monday, the foundation for the show announced that "a majority" of the exhibitors recently declared that they "may be excluded from a 2021 edition and that in 2022 they would prefer it." The show is also on sale now.
The Geneva Motor Show was the first major automotive event to be canceled outside of China earlier this year and was officially declared a pandemic by organizers about two weeks prior to COVID-19 being an outbreak by the World Health Organisation.
It'd be the 90th edition of the show, often home to the industry's most scandalous and flashy announcements. More than 600,000 visitors attended the show in 2019.
In the months since the cancelation, the Committee and Council of the Foundation "Salon International de l'Automobile" have sought financial assistance for the local government. A loan of 16.8 million Swiss francs (about 17.6 million dollars) was offered in the Canton of Genoa.
But the foundation was not satisfied with the terms of the loan — including 2021 — and it rejected it. Now, the Foundation is trying to sell Palexpo SA, the group which owns and runs the convention center which hosts this event, the right to the Genève Motor Show.
After the decision to re-enact the Geneva Motor Show all other major car shows have been either canceled or moved to a digital event, and many automakers have since taken online disclosures in the absence of these large events.
