BMW and Mercedes-Benz, two major players in Germany’s automotive sector, announced in March that they wouldn’t have a presence at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Now Audi, another country automaker giant, joins its two other German luxury rivals by skipping the 2019 Detroit Auto Show.
For 2019, we have decided that we will not participate in North America International Auto Show. We will continue to evaluate auto shows on a case-by-case basis relative to the timing of our product introductions and the value the show brings from a media and consumer perspective. – An official statement by the car makers.
The brand’s absence on the floor of the Cobo Center next year doesn’t mean they’re gone for good and will never attend a Detroit Auto Show ever again. It means that the company won’t have anything to reveal that’s worth the trouble and expense of preparing an auto show display in 2019. This can be subject to change.
Over the last few years, the Detroit auto show has received much scrutiny from both media members and automaker executives for its timing. The electronics show is drawing bigger crowds, from product reveals from automakers that would have waited for the Detroit show.
The Detroit Auto Dealers Association is thinking of moving the show out of January to avoid conflict with CES, Detroit organizers. Nonetheless, the fate of the Detroit Auto Show remains unknown, and it will be interesting to see if it does get rescheduled to October.
