2019 Washington, D.C. Auto Show will change to April.

[mmcartalk]

2019 Washington, D.C. Auto Show will change to April.
https://www.washingtonautoshow.com/s...urs-discounts/

Well, it looks like the end of the winter D.C. Auto Show, which, for years, was held during the Holiday Season....usually starting a day or two after Christmas and running a couple of days into the new year. Then, when they moved from the old two-story downtown Convention building to the new three-story one (supposedly, that new building cost over a billion dollars, even at the time) , they changed the show times from the Holiday season to roughly a month later.....late in January, into the first couple of days into February. The (two-fold) reasoning was that, First, because the old showtime over the Holiday season preceded the big Detroit Show in mid-January, all the new displays had to wait and be shown off at Detroit first, and couldn't come to D.C., and, Second, because Congress was not in session over the holidays, and most of the members were back home in their districts, they were getting visits to the show from only a few local politicians who represented districts nearby. Moving the show forward a month allowed more Members of Congress to attend.....sometimes even the President.

Now, for whatever reason, the show is once again bumping its dates...this time to early April. I'm surprised, but the site is putting out the new dates almost a year in advance.....from Friday, April 5, 2019, to Sunday, April 14th, 2019. Fortunately for me, for 2019, my church is celebrating Holy Week the next week (Apr. 14-21), so most of it won't overlap. It will, however (unless there are typical spring showers/thunderstorms in the area), make the outdoor test-drives at the show a little more pleasant, without that cold biting wind while you are trying to size up the vehicle before you step in. And, of course, it will keep the showtime out of snowstorms....though, several times in recent years, we have gotten at least non-accumulating snow flurries in the D.C. area in early April. And, without the tail end of the Detroit Show sometimes overlapping the start of the D.C. show (as it does now), more all-new exhibits might be able to come here, as they will already have been shown off at Detroit.

Now, I just hope that the cheapskates don't stop handing out the free show-passes you can get at local dealerships....although perhaps I'm just being cheap by not buying any LOL.

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

It seems that the U.S. auto show calendar will be in a state of flux in 2019 and beyond. The most notable change will be the Detroit Auto Show's move to either June or October starting in 2020. Like the Washington D.C. show, the Detroit show would move away from the dead of winter and into more pleasant test-drive weather. Alas, some say, these moves, and the decline of the A-list international auto show circuit as launching ground for new vehicles will relegate Detroit to its pre-1989 role as glorified regional auto show.

My native Miami Auto Show (which, like Washington, D.C., I'd describe as upper B-list), has also seen its share of scheduling gyrations. After a few years of late September/early October dates as "the first auto show of the new model year/season", it then settled into an early-to-mid November groove. This was fine and dandy, until the Los Angeles Auto Show moved from a Christmas/New Year's timing (similar to the pre-2019 Washington, D.C. show) to mid-to-late November. This certainly helped move L.A. away from Detroit's shadow - and Miami into L.A.'s. Why roll out even lesser debuts in Miami when holding out for a couple of weeks and Los Angeles will bring out more eyeballs and publicity?

In an attempt to stem this decline, Miami's organizers decided to return to their roots and schedule the 2017 show starting on September 9th, only to hastily cancel it (for the first time in its 46-year history) due to Hurricane Irma.

In conversation with show organizers, the likely plan (once Detroit pulls the trigger on its rumored 2020 rescheduling) is for Miami to take up the January slots Detroit (and Washington, D.C.) are vacating. Miami's huge advantage, of course, is that January weather is mild and pleasant enough that outdoor test drives are perfectly feasible. Their only concern is what to do about 2020 itself, which will see Miami host the Super Bowl in early February.

 

[mmcartalk]

It seems that the U.S. auto show calendar will be in a state of flux in 2019 and beyond. The most notable change will be the Detroit Auto Show's move to either June or October starting in 2020. Like the Washington D.C. show, the Detroit show would move away from the dead of winter and into more pleasant test-drive weather.

Detroit can be miserable in the winter. Not too long ago (I don't remember the exact year), on opening day at the Detroit Show, it was -18 degrees F and a foot and half of snow on the ground that morning.

My native Miami Auto Show (which, like Washington, D.C., I'd describe as upper B-list),

Though still not in the same class as Detroit, New York, or L.A. The D.C. show, in recent years, has become somewhat more significant, partly because of the presence of the national government, which regulates the industry, and the huge number of vehicle sales in the D.C. /Baltimore area, which trails only L.A./SoCal in sheer numbers. The D.C. show is now considered a borderline class A-/B+ show, with Detroit and L.A. as full-class A.

This was fine and dandy, until the Los Angeles Auto Show moved from a Christmas/New Year's timing (similar to the pre-2019 Washington, D.C. show) to mid-to-late November.

The D.C. show moved away from Christmas/New Years to late January (roughly) ten years ago, when the new building opened up. The 2019 shift to April next year will be the second major time-shift, not the first.

In an attempt to stem this decline, Miami's organizers decided to return to their roots and schedule the 2017 show starting on September 9th, only to hastily cancel it (for the first time in its 46-year history) due to Hurricane Irma.

Have they repaired or rebuilt the damage yet (if any) to Miami's Convention Center that last years's storms caused?

In conversation with show organizers, the likely plan (once Detroit pulls the trigger on its rumored 2020 rescheduling) is for Miami to take up the January slots Detroit (and Washington, D.C.) are vacating. Miami's huge advantage, of course, is that January weather is mild and pleasant enough that outdoor test drives are perfectly feasible. Their only concern is what to do about 2020 itself, which will see Miami host the Super Bowl in early February.

They don't necessarily have to have the show dates set in stone. One would think that they can shift the dates for the Miami show for one year if they have to, to accommodate the Super Bowl crowd. Major events and dates at Convention Centers like that are usually planned well in advance. Notice, here, in, D.C., that they already announced the change at the D.C. center almost a year in advance. The automakers and sponsors, of course, also have to have time to plan ahead, and when to have their vehicles and employees there.

 

[Gecko]

There has also been a request from many OEMs for a show in between New York and LA. Why?

March/April (New York) is sometimes too early for OEMs to want to consider showing their next model year vehicles, but November is often too late (LA). There has been a request for something around May/June, and I know the DC team has been trying to get to Tier 1 status with Detroit, LA and others for a while. I think they are slowly trying to become that "in between" show, but I wasn't aware that Detroit was shifting to June or October.

A schedule of something like:

Chicago - Feb
New York - March/April
DC - May/June
Detroit - October
LA - November

... would make a lot more sense across the board for OEM product planning and for climate in those regions.

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Have they repaired or rebuilt the damage yet (if any) to Miami Beach's Convention Center that last years's storms caused?

It's a little more complicated than that. The Miami Beach Convention Center has been in the midst of substantial renovations since late 2015. The 2016 show was just over half its usual size, since the east half of the venue was unusable due to the ongoing renovation work. The 2017 show was again due to be half-sized (this time held on the already-renovated east half while the west half was worked on), but, naturally, Hurricane Irma put the kibosh on those plans. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, since the 2016 half-sized show was less than ideal.

The renovations should be finished in late August 2018, barely before the Miami Auto Show press day on October 5.

They don't necessarily have to have the show dates set in stone. One would think that they can shift the dates for the Miami show for one year if they have to, to accommodate the Super Bowl crowd. Major events and dates at Convention Centers like that are usually planned well in advance. Notice, here, in, D.C., that they already announced the change at the D.C. center almost a year in advance. The automakers and sponsors, of course, also have to have time to plan ahead, and when to have their vehicles and employees there.

Of course, that's a given. The last time I spoke to the Miami Auto Show organizers, though, they had no clue when they'd schedule it. I'm sure they'll work it out in a timely manner...

 

[mmcartalk]

There has also been a request from many OEMs for a show in between New York and LA. Why?

March/April (New York) is sometimes too early for OEMs to want to consider showing their next model year vehicles, but November is often too late (LA). There has been a request for something around May/June, and I know the DC team has been trying to get to Tier 1 status with Detroit, LA and others for a while. I think they are slowly trying to become that "in between" show, but I wasn't aware that Detroit was shifting to June or October.

I liked it back when the D.C. show, in the old Convention Center, ran (roughly) during the Holiday season, and started just after Christmas. Those days, unfortunately, are long gone.....they went out with the new Convention Center, some 10 years ago.