When former Chrysler Corp. President Bob Lutz deliberately drove the primary Jeep Grand Cherokee by way of a plate-glass window on the 1992 Detroit auto present, the media stunt not solely generated international headlines but additionally marked a brand new period.
Automotive exhibits have been almost a century outdated on the time, however the Chrysler advertising and marketing crew helped push the notion that the annual expo was a serious media occasion moderately than what it all the time had been — principally a possibility for native sellers to get native customers into purchasing mode throughout January’s winter doldrums.
Quick-forward to the digital age. Even earlier than the event-crushing arrival of COVID-19, auto producers have been reducing again on splashy auto present debuts, doubting their bang for his or her bucks and searching for methods to spark product consideration on-line.
The media sizzling take in recent times has been to declare that the period of the general public auto present is useless.
However nothing could possibly be farther from the reality.
Everywhere in the U.S., supplier associations and automakers are gearing up for dozens of auto expos in markets as modest as Charleston, W. Va., a metro space of simply over 200,000 individuals, to Orange County, Calif., the place extra automobiles are offered than in 24 states individually.
Earlier than the coronavirus halted client auto exhibits in March 2020, guests have been nonetheless flocking to conference facilities and state festivals to comparability store in what is commonly a mix of household enjoyable and seat-of-the-pants analysis.
Foresight Analysis estimates that 11 million individuals attended U.S. auto exhibits through the 2018-19 season. Historically, the season has run from September to April. These attendance numbers had held regular for a number of years till the pandemic canceled most 2020 occasions, mentioned the Michigan-based information agency.
Present proponents say the truth of auto expos’ standing lies in a distinction of definitions. The narrative that the exhibits are dying is barely true if they’re outlined as media occasions, say organizers, supplier associations and automakers which might be nonetheless deeply invested in them. Solely a handful of massive exhibits, together with Detroit, New York and Los Angeles, have had media-only days to generate trade information earlier than opening to the general public.
“Auto exhibits have had a number of detrimental press, beginning again with the pullout of the German luxurious manufacturers from Detroit” for the 2019 present, mentioned Chris Stommel, president of Foresight Analysis, which has gathered present information since 2005.
“Some within the press have responded by calling the time of loss of life on auto exhibits solely,” Stommel mentioned. “We take a totally completely different view. Auto exhibits proceed to be an extremely highly effective experiential advertising and marketing channel and haven’t declined within the slightest from the customers’ standpoint.”
The truth is, auto exhibits have just a few distinctive issues going for them within the coming months and years. One is the pent-up demand for real-life experiences after a lot of America has been cooped up making an attempt to remain freed from the coronavirus. Planners of occasions corresponding to auto exhibits, boat exhibits and different experiential advertising and marketing say they will see demand rising as Individuals get vaccinated.
In Minneapolis-St. Paul, customers are actually shopping for tickets for the Twin Cities Auto Present, which begins Saturday, Might 15.
“The presales are proper now 4 instances what they’d usually be,” mentioned Scott Lambert, president of the Larger Metropolitan Auto Sellers Affiliation of Minnesota, which produces the present. “Persons are able to bust out of this pandemic.”
The present moved from its regular March dates at an indoor conference heart to an outside present on the Minnesota State Honest Grounds in St. Paul. The later date permits extra guests to get vaccinated, and the skin venue favors social distancing and pure air flow.
Final yr, the present was closed after simply six days due to the coronavirus outbreak. Lambert mentioned 27 manufacturers out of the standard 33 have returned this yr and are adapting to the setting with tents as an alternative choice to their indoor shows.
The Milwaukee auto present was held final week on the Wisconsin State Honest Park, transferring its dates and venue to have a mix of indoor and out of doors actions.
“It is alive and properly by way of attendance,” mentioned Jim Tolkan, president of the Car Sellers Affiliation of Mega Milwaukee. “The automakers carry vehicles and shows to the present, and we carry individuals which might be going to purchase these vehicles.”
Organizers stress that regional exhibits usually are not about media protection. They’re typically main social occasions for small cities and cities. They usually have a pure constituency of sellers, automakers and customers coming along with merchandise which might be in any other case tough to check aspect by aspect.
“A few of these top-tier exhibits are media-driven exhibits,” mentioned DeeDee Taft, who has been doing media promotion of auto exhibits at her personal company, Spin Communications, for greater than 20 years. “The exhibits which might be on a extra regional degree are designed for these areas. The producer help is tremendous vital.”
One large incentive for automakers is that analysis signifies showgoers will add or subtract manufacturers primarily based on their present expertise, mentioned Steve Freeman, who has been producing auto exhibits for 20 years and began his personal agency, Steve Freeman Occasions, late final yr.
Freeman mentioned the exhibits are sometimes the ultimate step for purchasing selections after weeks or months of digital analysis. “Persons are doing extra analysis earlier than they arrive to exhibits now, so they’re very properly knowledgeable, however nothing beats that tactile expertise of sitting in or driving the vehicles,” he mentioned.
One other potential new driver for auto exhibits is the explosion of latest merchandise, particularly electrical automobiles.
Given the curiosity in EVs generated by the Biden administration, the Washington Auto Present is planning a sequence of occasions when it returns in early 2022 that may sort out high-level discussions of presidency coverage and provides customers their first EV expertise by way of shows and check drives.
“With so many alternative applied sciences popping out — EV and autonomous driving — it is incumbent on present organizers like myself to ask how we are able to expose the lots of of hundreds of folks that come by way of the present over 10 days,” mentioned Kevin Reilly, chairman of the Washington Space New Car Sellers Affiliation, which owns and operates of the present.
With an estimated 100 EV fashions popping out over the subsequent few years, exposing a reluctant public to the huge technological shift ought to persuade automakers to proceed their help.
“The problem for the producers — and that is the place I feel auto exhibits are going to play an important position — is they are not simply making an attempt to promote their model or a selected mannequin. Now they’re additionally tasked with promoting a brand new know-how,” mentioned John Sackrison, government director of the Orange County Car Sellers Affiliation in Southern California.
“Shoppers have been going to auto exhibits for many years, and it is only a pure place and an amazing alternative to show customers to this know-how that each the producers and the federal government need them to undertake however, frankly, the customers aren’t clamoring for,” Sackrison mentioned.
Sackrison mentioned there may be concern within the present neighborhood that automakers pressured to pause their participation in 2020 could also be rethinking the expos now. Though sellers usually personal the exhibits and run them as nonprofits, they do want the producers to point out up with automobiles and shows.
A contemporary fear is that the worldwide semiconductor scarcity goes to weigh on some automakers financially, inflicting them to tighten present budgets even additional. Budgets could possibly be trimmed by downsizing elaborate automobile shows, Sackrison mentioned, however offering vehicles and vehicles to exhibits stays vital.
“Crucial factor for the producers to recollect is to be there,” he mentioned. “The No. 1 factor individuals wish to see on the exhibits are the vehicles. The shows are vital. But when you need to scale down your displays for value causes, do this.”
Bo Puffer, Stellantis exhibits and occasions supervisor, mentioned the impression of the chip scarcity is actual, however there is a compelling case to be made that the general public needs to see and really feel all the brand new automobiles which might be reaching the market. These embrace the Ram TRX, Jeep Grand Wagoneer and plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xe.
“Budgets are all the time tight, and we have been getting just a little squeezed over time, however we’re very environment friendly,” Puffer mentioned. “There’s nothing like sitting in a brand new automobile at a automobile present in an unpressured, unstressful scenario. We’re not promoting vehicles, however we wish to speak about them.”
Stellantis, shaped this yr from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Vehicles and PSA Group, does 69 exhibits within the U.S. per yr, together with state festivals, and restarted after the coronavirus pause with the Central Florida Worldwide Auto Present in Orlando in December. At that occasion, Jeep had a simulated off-road course contained in the conference heart, and Ram had a truck exhibition, each with customer ride-alongs.
Security measures in Orlando and the exhibits after it have proved efficient, Puffer mentioned. Nobody on his employees developed COVID points, and not one of the occasions was linked to a virus outbreak. Based on his product specialists, attendance seems to be down 15 to twenty p.c, however guests are extraordinarily grateful.
“Actually, I had customers come as much as me and thank us for being there,” Puffer mentioned of the Atlanta auto present final month. “I’ve by no means had that occur earlier than, and I have been to lots of of exhibits.”
Whereas interactive shows are extraordinarily well-liked with guests, the most important worth of the exhibits is that they stimulate purchasing, Puffer mentioned. Analysis exhibits that native dealership foot visitors will increase as much as 20 p.c within the month the present takes place and within the following month as properly, he mentioned.
“It is a piece within the advertising and marketing wheel, and there is a number of methods you could find out about new merchandise,” he mentioned. “However the exhibits are essential to our sellers.”
Toyota Motor North America mentioned in a press release that it has participated in round 70 auto exhibits throughout the nation yearly over the previous 5 years, though the quantity can fluctuate just a little. Whereas the media part of massive auto exhibits is much less related with digital alternate options, the patron facet stays vital.
“Budgets have been a problem,” Toyota mentioned within the assertion. “We constructed new auto present kits two years in the past that have been extra modular, permitting us to have extra flexibility with what we show. The brand new kits additionally assist us to be extra environment friendly with spend, particularly when press conferences are concerned.”
Toyota’s present participation has additionally been altering throughout COVID.
“The panorama will look completely different with wider aisles, temperature checks, and so on.,” the corporate mentioned. “Some exhibits are transferring to out of doors venues and/or planning their exhibits for spring and summer time dates, which is the normal low season for auto exhibits.”
Common Motors mentioned in a press release that it doesn’t take part in a set variety of client exhibits annually however continues to see them as an vital driver of auto gross sales.
“Regional auto exhibits are vital to GM and our supplier community,” the corporate mentioned. “We’ll proceed to watch the patron curiosity in occasions and displays as we craft our strategic plans for 2022 and past.”
Hyundai Motor America mentioned it’s searching for the appropriate time to leap again into the present circuit this yr or subsequent.
“Hyundai has all the time discovered regional auto exhibits efficient at constructing consciousness, consideration and reaching in-market consumers,” the corporate mentioned in a press release. “We shall be prudent about collaborating at any auto present or giant public gathering in the interim.”
A number of automakers and present organizers made the purpose that auto exhibits are the one place the place potential consumers pay to see the product. That in itself is a strong indication of their worth.
“They drive as much as an hour,” Foresight Analysis’s Stommel mentioned of present guests. “They pay for parking. They pay for overpriced concessions. They spend 5 hours on common on the present flooring, all to attend what quantities to at least one lengthy automobile business.
“So there may be actually worth from the shoppers’ perspective.”