Guest commentary: Yes, auto shows are struggling. They’re still as important as ever

Unfortunately, in recent years several manufacturers have opted out of this opportunity. What was fundamental and foundational for the first auto shows, showing off the magic of new cars, still exists and is needed more today than ever.

Since Detroit is the center of America’s auto industry, manufacturers and brand enthusiasts have leveraged the Motor City’s show to connect the public with big, significant and meaningful industry changes.

Bob Lutz intentionally crashed through the front plate glass windows of Detroit’s (then) Cobo Center when unveiling a new design of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Chrysler Corp., now Stellantis, drove a herd of longhorn cattle through downtown Detroit with cowboys on horseback to unveil the next generation of its popular Ram 1500. When Chrysler was DaimlerChrysler, Wolfgang Bernhard rode a V-10, 500-hp Dodge Tomahawk motorcycle on stage. Audiences loved the showmanship.

Automotive News Executive Editor Jamie Butters is right that auto shows have challenges today (“Detroit auto show poised to disappoint again,” June 17). Nevertheless, the fundamentals are as strong or stronger than ever. Between 2010 and 2019, auto shows saw some of their largest attendance numbers in history. Based on a newly published Foresight Research report on the 2022-23 U.S. auto show cycle, 1 in 4 households nationally that intend to buy a new car within the next 12 months attended a local auto show this season. And 3 out of 4 households attending auto shows are in the market to buy a car within the next 12 months. With this kind of motivation, why are automakers opting out of this valuable channel for promoting their new vehicles?

With responsibility for producing auto shows for the last 18 years, I have attended shows in the U.S. and around the world and seen the value. Many consumers follow developments in automotive and know which manufacturers and brands skip an auto show. They ask show organizers why brands are missing. Show organizers want every automaker represented, so nonparticipation almost always is a mistaken corporate decision made by someone who may have never attended an auto show.