The organisers of the Geneva motor show have confirmed that Europe’s biggest motoring event will return in 2022, following 12 months of uncertainty over its future.
Exhibitors are now being invited to register for their attendance at the event, which will take place as usual at the Palexpo centre, on 17-27 February next year.
It will be the 91st edition of the Geneva show and the first to be held since 2019. The 2020 event was called off at the last minute due to the then worsening coronavirus pandemic and 2021’s cancelled because of a shortage of interested exhibitors.
As a result of the successive cancellations, the Foundation of the Geneva International Motor Show (FGIMS) turned down a £14.1 million loan from the state of Geneva (contingent on a 2021 event) and sold the motor show to Palexpo SA, the firm that runs Geneva’s largest exhibition centre.
Sandro Mesquita, CEO of the Geneva show, said: “”With the dispatch of the tender packages, we are now officially starting the organisation of GIMS 2022.
“My team and I can hardly wait to present our concept to the exhibitors and subsequently to the public. We really hope that the health situation and the corresponding policy regulations regarding Covid-19 will allow us to bring it to life.”
No manufacturers have yet confirmed plans to attend the event, but further details have been promised in the coming weeks.
In late 2020, the show’s organisers hinted that the event could go ahead in 2021 with a modified format, using a mixture of physical and virtual exhibitions, but the plans never came to fruition.
It is expected that the 2022 event will represent a return to normality, should the pandemic have abated sufficiently to allow for large-scale gatherings and international travel. However, the show organiser has hinted that the format will be an “exciting evolution” that is “substantially different” from past events.
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