For the second year in a row, BMW will not have a presence at the upcoming New York Auto Show. But what’s even more surprising is the Bavarians intentions to also skip the Fall’s Paris Auto Show. According to one source (yet to be confirmed by the automaker), BMW will likely not attend this year’s Parisian motor show and will choose a different venue to display their latest products.

An even more interesting report comes today from the Netherlands. Autoblog.nl reports that the 2021 Frankfurt Auto Show is canceled, not only for BMW but for all the automakers. In 2019, the IAA attracted 550,000 visitors, a far cry from the usual  800,000 and 900,000 visitors.

So due to the low attendance, the IAA might be moving to another city in the future. There are currently three cities competing to organize the show: Berlin, Hamburg or Munich.

Over the last year, many carmakers have started to focus on experiential and activation events where customers have a hands-on experience with the latest products.

We’ve seen these type of activation events in the past, from Volvo (V60 launch in Stockholm) to Audi (e-tron launch in San Francisco) and to the BMW’s NextGen in Munich, but more are being planned in 2020. These unique type of venues will allow automakers to properly tell the stories of their cars, while allowing the general public some hands-on experience with the new products and services.

Some local auto shows will continue their tradition, but some of them will mostly receive local dealership support rather than a corporate budget. This year’s Chicago Auto Show will once again be skipped by BMW of North America, but it remains to be seen whether local dealers will choose to display their products.

With the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas growing year-over-year, the trend is clearly there – a focus on mobility shows with a technology angle. So we won’t be surprised to see new venues in the future taking a similar approach.