What is your prediction for the future of auto shows?

I grew up going to the Chicago Auto Show. As a kid it was awesome — we’d be there for the entire day, there were fun cars, bright lights, celebrities, food and fudge and popcorn and raffles. As a teenager I grew out of it a bit but I started going back with my dad in the Aughts and early 10s and it was not quite as vibrant, but still pretty good. Went back a couple years ago and…never again. What used to fill both sides of McCormick place was now crammed into one tiny corner. Many manufacturers had no presence whatsoever and there were more people selling schlocky novelty items than actual cars. So depressing. I think you’re right that the pandemic killed the momentum, but I think there’s a larger societal pattern behind it. When I was a kid, there were very few sources of information — magazines, an occasional tv show, friends or neighbors, or going to a dealer. The Auto show was a great place to get a wide range of insight about a wide range of cars. I remember sitting in the new mini for the first time — very little chance I would have done that any where else. How many plastic or canvas bags full of literature on specs, performance, and price not to mention pretty pictures of cars did I lug around? Today, all of that information is at my fingertips literally anywhere, plus a whole lot more. Videos, expert reviews, telemetry, etc. is fed directly to my tv or device in seconds. It completely changes the cost/benefit of going to a show. Of course, there is something I replaceable and visceral about sitting in a car. Our test was always “what sound did the door make when you closed it?’ Volvos always won, GM products were always worst! :) So the question I think you’re asking (and I’m quite sure I don’t have a good answer) is what is an irreplaceable, visceral experience about a car or group of cars that could be most easily delivered or experienced at a car show? Until there is a good answer to that question, I think they are dead. I wish it were not the case, but I just don’t see an alternative.