Geneva International Motor Show No More

It was announced on Friday that the annual motor show in Geneva, Switzerland, is coming to a close after more than a century due to dwindling interest and a tough market environment. First staged in 1905, the Geneva International Motor Show has been a fixture of new vehicle launches, mainly in Europe, attracting at least 120 exhibitors at its peak.

Citroën has premiered many vehicles at the show over the years. Iconic models like the SM, GS, and CX were first shown to the public in Geneva, and more recent introductions being; Berlingo, C1, C3, C4 Cactus, C6, C-Cactus, Ami One, and the “The Citroënist” SpaceTourer camper van. (View an extensive list of all cars shown per year here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_International_Motor_Show).

Citroën was not present at the last edition. The 2024 show saw only nine manufacturers exhibit their latest offerings; French brands Renault and Dacia, Chinese automaker BYD and its subbrands Denza and Yangweng, SAIC’s MG and IM, the American EV firm Lucid, and Italian design house Pininfarina. It drew only 168,000 visitors, short of the 200,000 the event had targeted.

The decision to end the Geneva International Motor Show follows the recognition that market conditions in Europe are “not conducive to the success of future editions”, organizers said.

While the Geneva Motor Show will not return, its legacy continues in different forms. The Geneva show was successfully held in Qatar in 2023, attracting 1,100 journalists and 180,000 visitors. The next edition is scheduled for November 2025. This shift to Qatar indicates a new direction for the event, leveraging its established brand in new markets.

It remains to be seen if Citroën will have any presence at the Qatar show in 2025.

Update Correction — Aug. 1, 2024: The information above came from the cancellation press release. Citroënvie member Gert Bue Larson spotted inaccuracies in it about the GS and the CX being first shown the to public and writes:

_{The GS was not first shown to the public at a Geneva motor show. The Geneva shows typically took place in March of every year.}

_{Citroën had organized events with briefings, presentations, and test drives for the press in August 1970, which took place at Hotel Rosapenna in Donegal in Ireland}

_{I have Citroën Denmark’s invitation to Danish journalists, explaining and outlining a 2-day event. I’m sure it must have been a series of back-to-back events throughout August where journalists from all over the world were treated similarly. An unusual thing for 1970, undoubtedly created by Citroën to spur the journalists’ interest in the event, was that they were being shuttled to and from Rosapenna by helicopter.}

_{The press was requested to respect August 27th, 1970 as the release date for their reports and photos. Citroën started delivering the model year 1971 cars shortly after this event.}

_{Likewise, there’s no way the CX can have been first shown to the public at a Geneva motor show.}

_{It was presented to journalists in similar back-to-back events during the summer of 1974 in Lappland in Sweden. When the journalists were done with the cars, a group of young participants from the 1973 Raid Afrique were invited to drive the CX’s back from Sweden to France, arriving on September 1, 1974 at 4:30pm in Paris and lining the cars up in front of the Champs-Élysées showroom.}

_{— Gert Bue Larsen}