It's official: Auto show shifts to June in 2020, plans street festival

Mark Phelan | Detroit Free Press

A radically new Detroit auto show aims to create a festival-like air with vehicle debuts, concerts, splashy displays and food trucks stretching along the riverfront from Cobo Center to Hart Plaza and up Woodward Avenue to Campus Martius when it kicks off the week of June 8, 2020.

More than a year of quiet planning and several months’ intense discussions with more than 250 stakeholders led to the plan, which the Detroit Auto Dealers Association is announcing Monday in the Free Press, Automotive News and WWJ radio.

It’s a total reboot of one of southeast Michigan’s signature events, a new approach that DADA hopes will keep the show relevant in the face of social media and other competition.

“We’re going to put people in car seats, outside on the streets of Detroit,” DADA Executive Director Rod Alberts said. “The only limit to what we can do is the canvas of the streets of Detroit and the exhibitors’ imagination. We’ll showcase Detroit at the best time of year.”

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Takin’ it to the streets

Automakers, suppliers and tech companies from around the world are expected to introduce new vehicles and features inside and outside Cobo Center’s exhibit halls.

That means abandoning the mid-January schedule in which the event — officially the North American International Auto Show — grew into one of the world’s leading auto shows and a major economic force, bringing $450 million annually to southeast Michigan.

Plans include:

Ride and drives of new vehicles.

Off-roading demonstrations and rides.

Experiencing self-drive vehicles on public roads.

Dynamic vehicle debuts that show vehicles in action rather than just sitting on a stage.

Demonstrations of how new technologies work in the real world.

“People have been looking for a way to experience new vehicles and technology,” said Doug North of North Brothers Ford in Westland, who is DADA president and 2020 auto show chairman. “We’ve had a virtually 100 percent favorable response to the change.”

Automakers that have already gone on the record supporting the move include Ford, General Motors, Hyundai and Toyota.

Traditional auto shows are under intense pressure as automakers experiment with other ways to introduce vehicles and impress the public. Everything from private, press-only events to social media unveilings to shows in new markets such as China has led automakers to reevaluate auto shows’ value. The issue became critical earlier this year when German luxury brands announced they would not unveil new vehicles at the 2019 show, which remains on schedule for Jan. 12-27.

Other leading auto shows face the same challenge. Many automakers have already announced they’ll pass on two mainstays of the calendar: the Paris auto show this October and the March 2019 show in Geneva, Switzerland.

Detroit auto show announces summer date 2020 Detroit auto show announces summer date 2020, street festival

Go big or go home

While other auto shows talk about small changes, DADA is hitting the reset button to redefine what an auto show does and how it can appeal to automakers, the international press and customers.

Moving to June gets Detroit out of the usual auto-show schedule, perhaps opening the door for vehicles whose launch timing doesn’t sync up with any of the traditional auto shows. Chevrolet’s recent unveiling of the 2019 Blazer midsize SUV is an example. Moving to a quieter part of the calendar may make it easier to attract the executives and vehicle intros that draw journalists from around the world and help create the excitement that attracts more than 800,000 to the show’s public days.

“Some automakers have already told us June 2020 aligns well with their production introduction schedule,” Alberts said.

The show will fall between the Detroit Grand Prix and International Freedom Festival fireworks, turning June into a dynamo of events drawing visitors from around the world.

Charity preview to continue

A detailed schedule won’t be announced for a while, but the Charity Preview that raises millions of dollars every year for southeast Michigan children’s charities will remain part of the show, North said. It could morph from a tux-and-evening-gown event to a summery evening party where people walk along the river, arriving by boat and car, sipping drinks and enjoying canapes as luxury cars do their self-driving tricks on the street or Cobo rooftop parking lot.

“January’s a tough month,” North said, speaking for the auto dealers who run the show. “The show generates excitement, but that may not translate into selling cars.

“It’s better to fish when the fish are biting. You can’t turn a lousy month into a great month, but a really good event may make a good month great.

“Manufacturers’ minds start rolling with ideas when they think about June. We hope some who left will reconsider.”

The show will be the only major automotive event in North America in June. DADA hasn’t discussed the changes with OICA, the international automakers’ association that accredits leading auto shows and helps them attract new-vehicle intros and international press coverage.

“I’ve got a comfort level,” OICA will approve of the changes, Alberts said. “I have no qualms.”

More bang for the buck

Automakers will be able to build their stands at the show faster and for a lower cost, Alberts said. The time set aside for preshow construction will shrink from eight to 12 weeks to just two or three weeks. That will save automakers millions, but also reduce income for the thousands of carpenters, electricians and other skilled tradespeople who work build the exhibits.

“It’s OK to break with tradition and go in a new direction,” North said. “Automakers are rethinking how they connect to the public.

“Our thinking from the first has been that we have to deliver more for a lower cost. We have an opportunity to take the lead.”

Some major automakers have already committed to the 2019 show, already guaranteeing a number of vehicle debuts, potentially including some huge newsmakers.

After that, DADA and the city will have will have 17 months to make sure Detroit auto show Version 2.0 is bigger and better than the show it replaced.

“The media, industry and public all remain as critical to the show as they are today,” North said. “It’s a huge undertaking, and it’s incredibly exciting. The auto industry has changed so much in the last five to 10 years, and this is part of it.

“It’s gonna be a blast.”

Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@freepress.com or 313-222-6731. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan.