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Geneva Motor Show returns after Covid pause

Car under a cover
The Geneva International Motor Show is throwing off the covers for the first time since 2019. © Keystone / Martial Trezzini

The Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) will return to Switzerland for the first time since 2019, when it was forced to shutter due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The show will run this year from February 26 to March 4, with a more compact, innovative and electric focus and with fewer exhibitors. 

“After the last four difficult years due to the health crisis and its consequences on the automobile industry, the Geneva Motor Show is back,” said Alexandre de Senarclens, who took over the presidency of GIMS last June.  

“More than 20 exhibitors will be present in Geneva, where around 15 new global and regional products will be unveiled,” said show director Sandro Mesquita.  

The fact remains that very few manufacturers responded to the call, with the notable exception of Renault and Dacia, its low-cost subsidiary. The main players in the sector will not be present. 

“Some brands decided not to come because they had no new products to present, others for strategic or financial reasons,” explained Mesquita. According to him, “the show has left the manufacturers’ agendas” after its long absence and it must now remind them of the “good memories”. 

This edition has been reduced from 11 to seven days at the request of automobile brands, particularly for cost reasons. 

Organisers still hope to welcome around 200,000 visitors – down from more than 600,000 in 2019. “The show will also be more compact, over three halls, compared to six or even seven in the past”, said Sandro Mesquita. 

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