VW Boss Says Auto Shows “Are Dead”

The head of Volkswagen has said that the traditional auto show is dead. And he left little to interpretation when he said it.

“Motor shows are dead,” VW Group Chairman Herbert Diess said at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. “They are a product of the 1960s and they are not as relevant anymore. They’re not delivering what we want and they’re not delivering what car buyers want.”

The traditional auto show has been hurting of late. The North American International Auto Show in Detroit, once the premiere global auto show, is now scrambling to find its way after losing BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz. The show is even moving from a longstanding January date to June. Other brands like Jaguar, Land Rover, and Mitsubishi have skipped the show for years.

Even the Geneva show in March, the biggest European show, has seen the pressure.

“People need to see more interaction with the product. They expect it. Those days of relying on tradition are gone,” Dr Diess insisted.

So what’s the solution? “It’s events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed that are showing us the modern way to show cars to people,” Diess said.

Shows where potential customers can not just see a static display in a well-kept booth, but also experience the car in motion. Like the race up the hill climb at Goodwood. Performance cars get to perform, for better or for worse.

Independent launches also let the automaker show off their product in ways that a traditional show won’t allow. Like Jaguar’s barrel roll reveal for the E-Pace.

Look for the big shows to possibly shrink, but certainly to try to adapt to what automakers are looking for. And what they think consumers desire.

[source: Motoring.au]

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