After two years of coronavirus-induced cancellations, the Geneva International Motor Show is scheduled to return in February 2022, show organizers confirmed Thursday in a press release.
Press days for the 2022 Geneva auto show, the 91st edition, are scheduled for Feb. 17-18, and the show ill then be open to the public Feb. 19-27. Organizers are now asking exhibitors to register for the show, setting a deadline of mid-July 2021 for registrations, but the show's return is still contingent on the pandemic situation.
"We really hope that the health situation and the corresponding policy regulations regarding COVID-19 will allow us to bring it to life," Geneva International Motor Show CEO Sandro Mesquita said in a statement.
Geneva was the first auto show affected by the pandemic. In late February 2020, the show was canceled just before it was scheduled to open, with exhibits already set up. Organizers tentatively planned to try again later in the year, but that proved impossible, and the 2021 Geneva show was canceled as well. It was also put up for sale.
The coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of most other major auto shows in 2020. The New York auto show, scheduled to start a few weeks after Geneva, was canceled because its site, the Jacob K. Javits Center, was converted into an emergency hospital. The Detroit auto show was scheduled to move from its traditional January date to June, but was canceled as well.
As vaccinations roll out and coronavirus numbers drop, auto shows are slowly returning. Auto Shanghai 2021 was held in February in the world's largest new-car market, while the Chicago auto show will return in July, in abbreviated form. The New York auto show is scheduled to return in late August.