Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA), a German trade organization representing the country’s auto industry, announced that Munich will succeed Frankfurt as host of the biennial International Motor Show, starting from 2021.
The VDA had selected Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich as the prospective sites to replace the Frankfurt Motor Show which apparently “was a very close race”.
The group cited “attractive event locations, excellent transport infrastructure, and expertise in the organization of major events” as the reasons for choosing the city.
As you can imagine, BMW is thrilled with this and did not waste any time to welcome future Motor Show goers to their home town.
The Frankfurt show started to experience a serious drop in attendance in recent years. In 2019 they got 550,000 attendees, which was a steep decline from 810,000 in 2017 and 931,000 in 2015. Moving locations and expanding the event’s scope might be enough for a boost in attendance but it is very clear that traditional motor shows are under pressure at the moment.