Food trucks, concerts, dynamic debuts, outdoor displays. This is the Detroit Auto Show 2.0. The Detroit Automotive Dealers Association (DADA) announced the show will officially move to June for 2020 and include a whole new atmosphere.
The Detroit Free Press reported additional details on Monday, and DADA said it plans to showcase the city during the best time of the year. The date change also puts the show in a quiet time outside of other automotive shows and events. Typically, the New York Auto Show in March or April caps off the auto show season.
The indoor-outdoor show will include ride and drives of new vehicles, off-road demonstrations, self-driving car demos on public streets and demonstrations of new technologies. Automakers will also have the opportunity for dynamic debuts rather than introducing a car on stage. DADA said everyone involved in the discussions over the past year has given positive reception. Automakers on the record supporting the change include General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai.
GM came out early on in support of the June date change and lobbied for the show to coincide with the Detroit Grand Prix. An October date change was also under consideration. Unnamed automakers also said the June show will coincide better with vehicle production schedules, which could mean more debuts in Detroit.
The date change will also put the Detroit Auto Show between the Grand Prix and International Freedom Festival fireworks. 2019 will mark the final year for the January show. Then, media and guests from around the world will see the auto show transform on June 8, 2020.
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Love it. Growing up, I could tell it was Auto Show time when the coldest days of the year occurred. Detroit in June is much more inviting than Detroit in January.