If you were looking forward to the New York International Auto Show next month, we’ve got bad news. With the Covid-19 coronavirus spreading, especially in New York, the auto show has been postponed. The announcement just went out, and it’s understandable considering that New York has seen over one hundred cases, and, according to The New York Times, is implementing a “containment zone” with schools and other locations closing for a couple weeks to reduce the spread of the virus.
This is also the second major auto show to be affected by the coronavirus. Just a few weeks ago, the Geneva Motor Show was cancelled as the virus began spreading through south-central Europe. In the case of the Geneva show, it was cancelled at the last minute by a Swiss government order prohibiting large gatherings. It appears the New York show postponement is being done voluntarily by the show’s organizers. The announcement roughly six weeks ahead of the event’s opening is also surely more helpful for exhibitors in regards to planning purposes.
The good news with all this is that there will still (hopefully) be a New York Auto Show, just later in the year. Press days run from August 26 to August 27, and it will be open to the public from August 28 to September 6. This means New York will also happen after the Detroit Auto Show, which opens in June. We’ll be curious to see how automakers handle this. Some reveals could be postponed for a while, or may end up being moved to Detroit. Other automakers may already have plans for Detroit and don’t want to postpone, so we could see individual reveals at odd times this spring.
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