The pneumonia epidemic in COVID-19 may completely end this big auto show.

Coronavirus pneumonia-19 novel coronavirus is still raging all over the world, with100000 people infected worldwide. This epidemic will greatly change people's way of life, and it will also have a subversive impact on some industries. The exhibition industry, which has always pursued popularity, bears the brunt. According to foreign media analysis, the large-scale auto show, which has been struggling under the impact of the Internet and various new marketing methods, may die out completely due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The scenery of the world's major auto shows is no longer.

North american auto show (North? American? International? Cars? The exhibition (NAIAS for short) just ended in Detroit last week. This year's auto show has to be opened to the public for the first time since the traditional winter timetable was abandoned in June 20 19.

The move aims to revive this auto show, which has long been regarded as the most important in the world. In the past, NAIAS usually attracted more than 700,000 tourists. In its heyday, as many as 70 new cars will make their debut at this exhibition. However, in recent years, the popularity of NAIAS has dropped sharply. The three-day busy product launch was shortened to only five hours. Sponsors hope that this spring's exhibition can be rescheduled and extended to the surrounding park space. However, coronavirus pneumonia-19 forced many premieres to be cancelled.

North american auto show is not the only big auto show that is going into decline. Frankfurt Motor Show used to be the largest auto show in the world, but there were very few participants last year, and many sponsors claimed that this would be their last time to participate in this exhibition. Now, with the coronavirus causing the cancellation of most major public events, whether the auto show can survive this epidemic has become the focus of attention in the industry.

Consulting firm LMC? Chief automotive analyst Jeff Schustr (Jeff? Schuster) said: "The life of the auto show is obviously in the ICU rescue stage. With the cancellation of large-scale exhibitions, coronavirus may accelerate the demise of automobile exhibitions. "

The Chicago Auto Show held in February this year may be the only symbolic and most important auto show in the world this year. As the Geneva Motor Show scheduled for March was cancelled in late February, one auto show after another was forced to be cancelled, including large auto shows in new york and Paris and small auto shows around the world. Although it has not been officially announced, many insiders said that the Los Angeles Auto Show 1 1 in June this year is expected to be postponed to 202 1.

The coronavirus epidemic has hit all major public events from baseball games to amusement parks. But now is a special period of the auto show. For most of the past decade, many automobile exhibitions have tried to reduce the participation of the general public.

In 20 15, the number of visitors to Frankfurt Motor Show reached the peak of 93 1000. There were so many new models that the organizers had to arrange two simultaneous press conferences every 20 minutes, which lasted for 10 hours. At the Frankfurt Motor Show last autumn, the number of visitors dropped by 40%, and six manufacturers including Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Ferrari, British finidi, Jeep, Nissan and Tesla completely gave up the exhibition.

Is the manufacturer far from the original auto show?

High cost is the main factor. Schustr said that even the smallest booth in new york, Paris or LA Auto Show can make the organizers "earn at least $6,543,800+0,000". He added that the cost could easily reach $654.38 million, especially when automakers still invite big-name artists, which Mercedes-Benz often does.

Mark wakefield, head of automotive business of AlixPartners, a well-known consulting firm (Mark? Wakefield) said that now that the budget is tight, manufacturers hope to get higher returns through more ways. With more and more competition, the traditional auto show is "less and less useful".

The main reason why Detroit Auto Show was changed to June was the rise of Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas in June, and 65438+ 10 was the first choice for automobile manufacturers to shape the image of high-tech digital products manufacturers. This year, more than a dozen such events were held at CES.

Automakers are turning to places like the Texas Fair to showcase new cars, such as the latest generation Chevrolet Silverado. Pebble Beach Classic held in Canada every year (pebble? The beach? Competition? D'Elegance) is also increasingly used as a publishing place for new luxury car products.

In addition, the Internet has become the first choice for many automobile manufacturers. Honda Civic this year? R, Nissan Rogue, Toyota Prince, Ford F- 150, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and other products made their debut on the website.

Even if they did participate in traditional activities, such as the Los Angeles Auto Show in June165438+1October last year, many automakers turned to off-site media previews. A Volkswagen planner who asked not to be named explained that this would not only save money, but also give manufacturers more time to communicate with journalists, otherwise journalists might switch from one activity to another every 20 minutes.

There is no doubt that "it is time to adjust the auto show." Rod alberts(Rod? Alberts) said, "If exhibitors learn to adapt, I think they (car manufacturers) will stay."

In 2020, north american auto show originally planned to expand the exhibition space in the TCF Center in Detroit, not only on the roof of the conference hall, but also in the adjacent riverside park. "There are some things we can't do in winter." Alberts said.

Dada is also holding off-site activities for luxury brands such as Ferrari and Rolls-Royce, otherwise it is meaningless for car dealers to set up booths only in TCF Center. Unlike the traditional static display, automobile manufacturers will now invite potential buyers to test drive new products.

Chicago Automobile Trade Association (Chicago? Cars? Trade? Chairman David Si Long (David? Sloan) said that the auto show "pays more and more attention to how to attract people into car dealers".

The organizers of the exhibition are used to quoting the direct sales data brought by the auto show. Organizers of new york Auto Show, which has a history of 120, announced at the press conference in May this year: "In 20 19, 72% of new york Auto Show participants indicated that they would buy or rent new cars in the next 12 months, and 36% of them added their brands to the inquiry list after visiting the auto show."

However, Wakefield of LMC, an automotive industry consultancy, said that more and more people are skeptical about the data released by auto show organizers, especially when manufacturers try to use other alternative methods to promote their products. They believe that these alternative methods can at least effectively attract and motivate potential buyers.

He said that the coronavirus epidemic will keep people away from auto shows and other large public gatherings. He added: "We expect that after seeing the coronavirus, people's lifestyles will gradually change and they will be more accustomed to doing things online."

Wakefield and other experts believe that the auto show will not disappear completely, but those exhibitions that can't adapt to the changes in reality may fail. Those auto shows that can survive may become smaller, simpler and more focused because they need to compete with other competitors for the attention of potential car buyers.

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This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.