It hasn’t even been a week since Opel announced it would skip the Paris Motor Show, and here we are telling you that Volkswagen has withdrawn its interest in the show as well. That brings the number of manufacturers skipping this year’s show in Paris to nine. Volkswagen joins Ford, Volvo, Nissan, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, Opel, Mazda, and Subaru. It’s a surprising blow to the show considering Volkswagen is the top-selling car brand in Europe, but the brand believes it has justification.

It’s The Same Story We’ve Heard Before

Volkswagen says it’s “constantly analyzing the relevance of participating in international car shows.” Apparently, Volkswagen either has nothing new to offer or would rather save the money for something else – probably another dumb special edition or something. It’s important to remember, though, that this decision is only relevant to the Volkswagen brand, not the dirt VAG as a whole. Skoda, Seat, Audi, and Porsche all have plans to occupy their own booths at the show.

So Who Will Be at the Paris Motor Show?

While there are nine major brands skipping the show, there are still a bunch going. Maybe they have big debuts, or maybe they don’t mind spending the extra money for that kind of public viewing time – after all, in 2016 there were some 1.07 million visitors. Regardless of the reason, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Mercedes, Toyota, Lexus, Jaguar, Smart, Suzuki, and Land Rover have all confirmed their spots, but the Fiat-Chrysler group is still in the decision-making process.

The Show Will Go On

This is becoming a weird trend these days, and it’s hard to say why. Most car companies seem to be making money hand over fist, especially with the SUV segment booming as it is, but that’s really only relevant in the States. Some Automakers have focused more on private debuts that are streamed via the internet but those shows, while effective, have left a bit of a nasty taste in the mouth of a lot of journalists. Plus, the public doesn’t get to lay eyes on the vehicle in the metal. In theory, that could lead them to dealerships to take a look at new vehicles, where they’ll undoubtedly be pressured into buying, but it just doesn’t feature that personal feel you get from auto show debuts.

The Paris Motor Show has even tried is hardest to prevent automakers from skipping the show. It’s reduced the number of days it’ll be open to the public by five, bringing the total viewing days down to 11. That would have saved a fortune across the board as that’s less time automakers have to pay for space rental, hotel bills, and employees that are present at the event.

Final Thoughts

I find it sad that automakers are continually choosing to skip auto shows. They are spending more money on online marketing and live streaming, and it puts consumers in a tough place as we don’t get any one-on-one time without venturing to a dealer. As a journalist, I take pride in attending these auto shows, and I know plenty of folks who make it a point to visit, sometimes more than once, on public days. As automakers have announced skipping the Detroit Auto Show in 2019, dealers are already clamoring and complaining because auto shows still work – people leave the show and head to dealers. Just ask Audi dealers in Detroit how they feel about their brand skipping the NAIAS. I don’t think the auto show is dead by any means, but automakers better get their heads out of their asses before they ruin one of the coolest things to do throughout the year.

References

Read more Volkswagen news.

Read more Paris Auto Show news.