Paris Motor Show canceled, but some events could live on

The Paris Motor Show hasn’t yet given up hope that some semblance of an event will still be able to run on the scheduled dates of October 1-11, 2020, according to a press release, via Automotive News Europe. Organizers know, however, that even if it were able to open, it will look nothing like the shows of the past.

Today, March 30, 2020, French organization La Plateforme Automobile (PFA) posted an update about the status of the Paris Motion Festival, which includes the Paris Motor Show. Unfortunately, the main portion of the show has been canceled. The announcement comes following news that the Goodwood Festival of Speed has been postponed and the Detroit Auto Show has been canceled due to the current health and financial crisis caused by spread of the coronavirus and the outbreak of COVID-19. The release, which is written in French, roughly translates to say: 

In view of the seriousness of the unprecedented health crisis facing the automotive sector, hit hard by the economic shock wave, today plays its survival, we are forced to announce that we will not be able to maintain in its current form the Paris Motor Show at the Porte de Versailles for its 2020 edition.

The release goes on to say that surrounding events such as Movin’On and Smart City, “are not, for the moment, in question.” Those events were supposed to be part of a totally new type of function this year called the Paris Motion Festival, which is scheduled to run September 26, 2020, through October 11, 2020.  The festival was meant to focus on future tech and mobility and help reinvigorate a car show that was pretty quiet in 2018. 

“We launched this transformation before the pandemic,” spokeswoman for PFA said in a phone interview. “We planned to organize a type of festival by hosting mobility-related events. Automakers wishing to present a new model, or a new technology, might still be able to do so at one of these events. It’s still a project at this stage because there is a great deal of incertitude surrounding it. We prefer to be transparent and release as much information as possible, because people were already starting to contact us about buying tickets.”

“When we exit this crisis, we’ll have a new vision on mobility,” she added.” We want to help our partners navigate these changing times. But, ultimately, it’s clear the show as you know it is canceled.”

This is a fluid situation that will likely change, and we will update the festival’s status if we hear more. To read the full press release, visit PFA.