Report: L.A. Auto Show Ready to Make Its Move

by Steph Willems

Published: September 2nd, 2020

report l a auto show ready to make its move

Amid ongoing trade show cancellations that now stretch into the next calendar year, the L.A. Auto Show remains stubbornly fixed, apparently still a go for this November.

No one believes this will come to pass. Not with the current coronavirus situation, not with winter (and a feared second wave) approaching, and not without the appearance of a vaccine or some sort of breakthrough therapeutic drug. So it’s not surprising to hear that organizers might punt the event to late spring.

Three sources who spoke to Automotive News say that’s the plan.

While the official calendar still has the L.A. event slated for November 21-29, people with knowledge of the event planning say the show will move forward a half-year, potentially making it a close predecessor to a deferred Detroit show tentatively scheduled for next June. Detroit’s first summertime show, of course, didn’t get off the ground in 2020 on account of the fast-spreading virus.

From Automotive News:

The L.A. event, which had been scheduled to run Nov. 20-29, will now take place May 21-31, 2021, according to three people familiar with the show’s planning.

An announcement could come as early as this week, two of the people said.

The show’s president, Terri Toennies, did not respond to four voice, text and email messages seeking comment.

Should next spring bring with it a vastly changed virus situation, automakers will face quite a timetable of trade events. Cancelled at the last minute this spring, the New York International Auto Show is scheduled to open to the public from April 2-11, with the Detroit show arriving on June 19th. That would make L.A. the cream in a hastily consumed Oreo.

Given that automakers time the public debuts of product to coincide with regularly scheduled trade shows, the three events offer plenty of choice. However, the close timing could leave one or more of them with a meager amount of new reveals.

[Image: Jaguar Land Rover]

#Coronavirus #L.A.AutoShow #TradeShows

Steph Willems

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3 of 4 comments

ToolGuy on Sep 02, 2020

Truth in advertising: Rename it as the L.A. Traffic Show.

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Inside Looking Out on Sep 02, 2020

After November elections the "virus" will magically disappear.

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- HotPotato on Sep 03, 2020
  
  Oh, grow up.
  
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