FRANKFURT: The organisers of the Geneva International Motor Show said on Monday that they would not organise the event in 2021.
The organisers said a majority of exhibitors surveyed said they would probably not participate in a 2021 event and that they would prefer to have it held in 2022.
“The automotive sector is currently going through a difficult phase, and exhibitors need time to recover from the effects of the pandemic,” said the committee and council of the Foundation Salon International de l’Automobile.
This year's edition was cancelled after Switzerland banned large gatherings before introducing stricter lockdown measures to fight the novel coronavirus.
The wealthy Alpine nation has, like other European countries, lifted many of those measures, but still has restrictions on large gatherings.
The foundation said that back in March, it had asked the canton of Geneva to provide financial support to help cover 11 million Swiss francs (RM49.5mil) it lost when the 2020 edition was cancelled at the last minute, and to help prepare for next year's show.
The auto show is the largest public event organised in Switzerland, and usually fills the Geneva region's coffers with around 200 million francs (RM899mil) each year, the foundation pointed out.
At the beginning of June, it said, the Geneva cantonal government approved a loan of 16.8 million francs (RM75.5mil), but it had been forced to turn down the money due to the reimbursement conditions, and a stipulation that it host an event in 2021.
Instead, it said that it was exploring selling the auto show to the Palexpo exhibition space where the show normally is held. — Additional reporting by AFP
