A Less-glitzy Detroit Auto Show Returns After 3-year Absence

When it came time to showcase its electric Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the public this year, General Motors decided against doing so at the big Detroit auto show, as it typically would have done in the past. Instead, it unveiled the Equinox six days earlier.

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GM’s decision symbolized just how much smaller this year’s auto show will be, with few new model debuts, less-glitzy displays, fewer journalists and possibly lower attendance.

Though the pandemic is partly to blame, larger forces are at play, too: Automakers have figured out that new models can make a bigger splash when they’re unveiled to a digital audience on a day where they don’t have to share the spotlight with their rivals. Not to mention that making a debut at an auto show can be hugely expensive.

So despite moving the show from January to balmy September and adding outdoor events, the North American International Auto Show won’t be the glitzy event it was the last time it was held in chilly January, more than three years ago.

“The industry has changed — the world has changed,” said Karl Zimmermann, vice president of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which runs the show. “Do I think it’s going to be the same as it was before? No. It’s a much different format. We’re using indoors. We’re using outdoors.”

This year’s show will be geared more toward consumers and less toward the industry. General Motors and Volkswagen will offer test drives. There will be ride-alongs in new electric vehicles from Ford and others.