INTERVIEW
Traditional motor shows under threat as focus shifts
Volkswagen Group chairman Herbert Diess tells Michael Taylor that the traditional motor show’s days are numbered
The Detroit car show will move to June in 2020 in a bold effort to stay alive, but the Volkswagen Group’s chairman has cautioned the effort may be in vain. Herbert Diess has warned that there may not be a future for traditional motor shows, with events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and off-site standalone exhibitions taking their place. "Motor shows are dead," Diess insisted at the recent Goodwood event. "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 Detroit show, the traditional season opener for the world’s car industry, has been under pressure since the global financial crisis in 2008 and has never recovered. It has effectively been kept alive and relevant by European car makers, but Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have already announced their absence from January’s edition. Brands such as Jaguar, Land Rover, Mitsubishi and even Bentley and Lamborghini have been...
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