2020 Geneva Motor Show Is Cancelled: Comments

[William Maley]

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Next week would have been the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, home to debuts of lavish super and luxury cars. But organizers of the show announced yesterday that the show is canceled after the Swiss government announced that it would be banning gathering of more than 1,000 people due to Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

"We regret to announce the 2020 Geneva motor show will be canceled. This is force majeure," said a spokesman for the Palexpo show venue.

"The show cannot be postponed. It's not possible. It's too big. It's not feasible."

"We regret this situation, but the health of all participants is our and our exhibitors' top priority. This is a case of force majeure and a tremendous loss for the manufacturers who have invested massively in their presence in Geneva. However, we are convinced that they will understand this decision," said Maurice Turrettini, chairman of the Geneva Motor Show foundation board.

The announcement comes after a week of organizers being adamant that proper care and screening before traveling to the show, the virus wouldn't be a concern. A number of automotive executives and other officials weren't fully buying this and decided to skip the show.

What changed was the first reported cases of coronavirus in Switzerland that happened in the middle of the week. One of the confirmed cases was from someone that travelled to Italy - a place that is currently suffering one of Europe’s most extreme outbreaks of the virus. On Friday, Switzerland's Federal Council convened to decide a course of action on Coronavirus which amounted to the ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The ban will apply at least to March 15th.

It is unclear whether or not automakers were notified of the decision before being announced or not. What we are expecting is most of the debuts to take place online or at other auto shows.

If you want to know what was going to be shown at Geneva, Roadshow has put up a guide detailing the various debuts.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Geneva Motor Show

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THE GENEVA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW IS CANCELLED!

The 90th edition of the GIMS, which was supposed to welcome the media from next Monday and the general public from 5 to 15 March 2020, will now finally not take place. This is an injonction decision of the Federal Council of 28 February 2020 that no events with more than 1,000 people are allowed to take place until 15 March 2020. The decision falls 3 days before the opening of the exhibition to the media.

The organizers accept this decision: "We regret this situation, but the health of all participants is our and our exhibitors' top priority. This is a case of force majeure and a tremendous loss for the manufacturers who have invested massively in their presence in Geneva. However, we are convinced that they will understand this decision," said Maurice Turrettini, Chairman of the Foundation Board. We would like to warmly thank all those involved in the organisation of the 2020 edition of GIMS.

A few days before the opening of the event, the construction of the stands was very nearly complete. A week ago, during the press conferences announcing the 2020 edition, there was nothing to suggest that such a measure was necessary. The situation changed with the appearance of the first confirmed coronavirus diseases in Switzerland and the injonction of the Federal Council on 28.02.2020. The event is cancelled due to this decision.

In the meantime, the dismantling of the event will now have to be organised. The financial consequences for all those involved in the event are significant and will need to be assessed over the coming weeks. One thing is certain: tickets already purchased for the event will be refunded. The organisers will communicate about this as soon as possible, via their website.

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[smk4565]

This was rumored, I am sure there will be lots of online reveals of cars now.

Corona virus could really put a dent in the global economy if it gets worse.

[David]

I expect many large scale events like this will get canceled due to the virus.

[riviera74]

21 hours ago, dfelt said:

I expect many large scale events like this will get canceled due to the virus.

I hope this mass cancellation of events only affects this year, and not 2021 or longer.

[daves87rs]

I expect this to get much worse, sadly... 

You know it is rough when sporting events are starting to be cancelled......

[Robert Hall]

22 hours ago, daves87rs said:

I expect this to get much worse, sadly... 

You know it is rough when sporting events are starting to be cancelled......

I don't know if it's people avoiding crowds, or just that it's a rainy Monday, but I went to a movie this evening and the theatre overall wasn't very crowded and there were only 3 people in the particular theatre I was in.  Or maybe it was because I want to see a music documentary.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Robert Hall

[David]

Just now, Robert Hall said:

I don't know if it's people avoiding crowds, or just that it's a rainy Monday, but I went to a movie this evening and the theatre overall wasn't very crowded and there were only 3 people in the particular theatre I was in.

Crazy, went to Costco to get a few things and the lines were unbelievable like it was xmas  x 10. All the TP was sold out, paper towels, so much stuff in the freezer and meat section. It was like people are expecting an Apocalypse to happen. It honestly was crazy the amount of stuff people were buying. I can see crazy returns in a week once people get over this crazy virus hording avoiding thing going on. For those with strong immune systems, I see no problem with staying on top of washing hands, cleaning things and keeping distances from those that appear to be sick.

I do think this will change the way people gather in the future.

[Robert Hall]

9 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Crazy, went to Costco to get a few things and the lines were unbelievable like it was xmas  x 10. All the TP was sold out, paper towels, so much stuff in the freezer and meat section.  

Sounds awful...with Amazon Prime, home basics like coffee, dog food, TP, paper towels, etc all come to me..can't imagine going to a store for the basics..and I rarely go to my local grocery anymore; been using Amazon/Whole Foods home delivery for grocery shopping the last month or so..    

Edited March 3, 2020 by Robert Hall

[ocnblu]

7 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Sounds awful...with Amazon Prime, home basics like coffee, dog food, TP, paper towels, etc all come to me..can't imagine going to a store for the basics..and I rarely go to my local grocery anymore; been using Amazon/Whole Foods home delivery for grocery shopping the last month or so..    

Shopping local small business is more my style.  Giant faceless monoliths can bite it.

[frogger]

On 2/29/2020 at 6:33 PM, dfelt said:

I expect many large scale events like this will get canceled due to the virus.

According to my mother-in-law, many Korean churches in Toronto cancelled Sunday services as of last weekend (at least the two larger ones she knows of with 500+ members) for now.  I would imagine Chinese ones did the same.

Watched Contagion with wifey last night for the heck of it

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by frogger

[David]

32 minutes ago, frogger said:

According to my mother-in-law, many Korean churches in Toronto cancelled Sunday services as of last weekend (at least the two larger ones she knows of with 500+ members) for now.  I would imagine Chinese ones did the same.

Watched Contagion with wifey last night for the heck of it

You should also watch 28 days later and 28 weeks later. Both fun good movies!  

[Robert Hall]

36 minutes ago, dfelt said:

You should also watch 28 days later and 28 weeks later. Both fun good movies!  

The Road is another good one in the genre of light happy future fun movies... 

[frogger]

9 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

The Road is another good one in the genre of light happy future fun movies... 

 

45 minutes ago, dfelt said:

You should also watch 28 days later and 28 weeks later. Both fun good movies!  

Hahaha no zombies or cannibals Contagion, it is a bit on the serious/attempt at realism side but I will check out The Road :).  I have seen the 28 days/weeks later movies, both fun.  Looks like Cillian Murphy is in another post-apocalyptic movie upcoming,  A Quiet Place 2.

[balthazar]

RE : The Road - be prepared to be more depressed than EVR by a movie.

[David]

54 minutes ago, balthazar said:

RE : The Road - be prepared to be more depressed than EVR by a movie.

Is there a specific point / part in the movie that made you depressed or just the over all story?

 

[balthazar]

It builds throughout. One of the very few movies Ive seen that I really liked but may never watch again.

[Robert Hall]

Yeah, it's a bit grim.    I generally don't get into the whole post-apocalypse or zombie genres, but that one felt a bit more grounded in a semi-plausible future. 

Edited March 3, 2020 by Robert Hall

[David]

22 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, it's a bit grim.    I generally don't get into the whole post-apocalypse or zombie genres, but that one felt a bit more grounded in a semi-plausible future. 

So a Second Amendment dream come true. Shoot them, Shoot them all and let God sort them out! 😆

[Robert Hall]

6 minutes ago, dfelt said:

So a Second Amendment dream come true. Shoot them, Shoot them all and let God sort them out! 😆

Alas, I'm pessimistic about the long term future of this country.   My optimistic side would like a Star Trek high tech space exploration future, but my pessimistic realist side thinks as the US goes down the downward spiral it is going to be pretty ugly.

"It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there 
Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain"

Edited March 3, 2020 by Robert Hall

[David]

Auto show is dead, but Bentley, division of VW just released their new limited production to being 12 copies only built, all 12 sold at $1.9 million each of the Bentley Bacalar with a W12 650 hp 667 lb-ft torque AWD 2 door open coupe.

https://www.autonews.com/geneva-auto-show/limited-run-bentley-bacalar-all-about-exclusivity

UGLY UGLY UGLY for that amount of money! Wealth does not insure taste.

 

[balthazar]

Thats horrific even for Bentley.

I struggle to think of a brand that puts less passion and effort onto their styling.

Edited March 3, 2020 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

As far as Bentley goes, I like the styling of the current Continental GT coupe... and it is a hardtop.

In convertible form, every time I see a pic of it I think of the Karmann-Ghia...that rear quarter character line...

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

^ not necc the best association. 🤪

That Ghia character line first appeared on the Chrysler concepts of the early ‘50s; the ‘53 d’Elegance for sure. Ghia liked to reguritate the same few design cues regardless of customer. Small bag of tricks.

Bentley design is awful. Interiors are very nice (tho not up to the price tag), but the exteriors are a snoozefest.

Edited March 3, 2020 by balthazar

[ccap41]

Is ANY personal automobile's interior REALLY up to a 200k price tag? 

There are beautiful interiors but nothing really says 200-500k. Maybe it's because that price range is so far away from be that I just cannot understand that price category. 

[David]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

Is ANY personal automobile's interior REALLY up to a 200k price tag? 

There are beautiful interiors but nothing really says 200-500k. Maybe it's because that price range is so far away from be that I just cannot understand that price category. 

Agree when you talk that price or the price of the Bentley above at $1.9 Million. I honestly cannot think of what really would say this is a million dollar interior.

Then a $1,000 to people that buy stuff like this is like $10 to us. They live in a world way outside the common human.

[daves87rs]

On 3/2/2020 at 9:59 PM, Robert Hall said:

I don't know if it's people avoiding crowds, or just that it's a rainy Monday, but I went to a movie this evening and the theatre overall wasn't very crowded and there were only 3 people in the particular theatre I was in.  Or maybe it was because I want to see a music documentary.

Or that it was Monday.... 🙂 

Think that might be the best day to see a movie.....