2021 Geneva Motor Show cancelled due to Covid-19 uncertainty

File picture: Pierre Albouy / Reuters.

File picture: Pierre Albouy / Reuters.

Published Jun 30, 2020

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Geneva, Switzerland - The organisers of the Geneva International Motor Show have cancelled the 2021 event, which would have taken place in March next year. This follows the cancellation of the 2020 show, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The organisers said most of the exhibitors who were surveyed indicated that they would probably not participate in a 2021 event and that they would prefer to have it held in 2022.

"The automotive sector is currently going through a difficult phase, and exhibitors need time to recover from the effects of the pandemic," said the committee and council of the Foundation Salon International de l'Automobile. 

It was far from certain whether the current health situation would permit the staging of an event that attracts more than 600 000 visitors and 10 000 journalists early next year, it added.

The Motor Show was due to be held between March 4 and 14, 2021. It has now been postponed to 2022.

The decision not to hold the fair was also due to losses incurred due to this year's cancellation, which amounted to an estimated 11 million Swiss francs (R 199 million).

The 2020 show was cancelled just four days before it was scheduled to open to the press, and car companies had to make last-minute plans to stage ‘virtual’ launches of the new products that were scheduled to be revealed at the show.

Reuters & dpa

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