
Mercedes-Benz Confirms It Will Skip Detroit Auto Show in 2019 - doener
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-12/mercedes-benz-confirms-it-will-skip-detroit-auto-show-in-2019
======
jdhn
I can see the Detroit Auto Show slowly fading away unless they really revamp
it. Two suggestions:

1) Don't hold it in the dead of winter, and instead move it to a time when
it's warm out

2) Move out of the Cobo Center. Belle Isle could use a defining event, so
perhaps they could hold it there.

~~~
xxpor
I loved being able to take a Saturday and go to Detroit while I was in college
in Cleveland, so selfishly I'd be against moving it to the summer. As a more
practical concern, I would assume the show is when it is because it
corresponds to manufacturer's debut schedules.

In terms of 2), what's wrong with the Cobo center? Being downtown is nice for
walking around etc after.

~~~
jdhn
There's nothing wrong with the Cobo Center, it's just that it happens in the
middle of the winter. If you can't take the People Mover to Cobo or park real
close, it can be a major pain in the butt to walk there.

~~~
xxpor
I guess since I was a resident of the midwest, it never really bothered me :)

I can certainly understand for visitors from around the country why it'd be a
pain.

------
dmix
I have to say...that's one good looking car:
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Benz+Concept+EQA+electric+vehicle&...](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Benz+Concept+EQA+electric+vehicle&ia=images&iax=images)

I've seen many concept cars that looked "interesting" but rarely have I ever
wanted one as much as this.

[https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-
benz/vehicles/the-...](https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-
benz/vehicles/the-concept-eqa-electric-athlete/)

~~~
jacquesm
It looks pretty much like a standard 'B' class.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=mercedes+b+class](https://www.google.com/search?q=mercedes+b+class)

And by the time it will be in the showrooms it will probably look even more
like it.

~~~
bgarbiak
I think you mean the A class: [https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-
benz/vehicles/pass...](https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-
benz/vehicles/passenger-cars/a-class/a-class/)

~~~
dx034
The A class used to be such an ugly car but I must say I really like the look
of the new model. That one designed as an electric car (which the concept car
would be) looks very compelling.

~~~
davrosthedalek
Well, they essentially copied the look of the BMW 1 series. Too bad BMW is
giving up on the sports pedigree of the 1 series by switching to a FWD base.

------
Theodores
This year Mercedes relaunched the G-Wagen with Dieter and Arnie paying lip
service to an electric future. This was at a side show adjunct to Detroit Auto
Show in venues of Mercedes choosing. It is as if they have decided they are
too big for the show.

Mercedes have their own world whether it is F1 or those AMG road cars, they
have something for everyone that wants luxury performance. There is no need to
have a few Chevy and Ford efforts in this world of theirs, they are not
communicating their brand to their customers with consumer comparisons.

Furthermore, the domestic U.S. manufacturers and their international brands
(e.g. former 'Vauxhall') are making region specific cars, the German marques
generally offer 'world' cars that are the same everywhere to some extent. This
year their G-Wagen was something they could take to Detroit, in most years,
for most of their products, I am sure Mercedes think of doing the launch in
their home market for a global audience. They can fly out all the influencers
and journalists they need to Germany, put them up in nice hotels, let them do
autobahn speeds and get all the reviews they need.

------
cmrdporcupine
I like cars, and in particular I like GM's electric vehicle program and
technology.

So it was strange to me that the Detroit Auto Show came and went I was blow
away that GM (or Chrysler or Ford) didn't announce any new EVs or even promote
their existing EVs there -- despite GM having stated recently they intend on
launching at least a dozen new plugins before 2020. All the big 3 showed at
the Detroit show were tacky muscle ICE cars and big boring trucks.

I imagine they will announce those cars or at least some concepts this spring,
instead, at a different auto show. Which is a pretty sad statement about the
Detroit show that the Detroit manufacturers don't even take it seriously as a
venue for their future products.

------
jacquesm
It's like CEBIT/Hannover Messe for PC stuff (or COMDEX if you're from the
USA), all that stuff has moved online and only inertia keeps the remainder
going.

There was a time when going to tradeshows was a must to stay up-to-date,
nowadays it is mostly a waste of time.

~~~
chrissnell
For major brands, yes. It sure makes it hard for little brands to get noticed,
however, when the tradeshows go away. My dad has been in the bicycle business
since the early 70s and I used to go to Interbike (the big tradeshow) with
him. I remember when Timbuk2, the bag company, made its debut there. They were
tiny but did something nobody had ever done before: the owner brought his
seamstresses to the show and they sewed custom bags on-demand right there at
the show. Everybody wanted one and they were minor status symbols at the show
that year. That was a huge turning point for them and they got very popular
after that.

This kind of exposure just wouldn't happen in the social media age, where
everybody is trying bold, non-scalable antics to get attention, but it might
work at a tradeshow--if they still exist.

------
aurizon
We have all seen how little dealer support that electric cars need - not
enough to support the traditional IC engined cars with all their fail modes.
To be sure, Mercedes dealers can managing the long slow decline in service
that an electric Mercedes fleet will bring over the next 10-20 years - keeping
the declining rust buckets going. So a smart car maker may even move to the
Tesla model over that time period, especially with the anticipated changes in
the car market that is predicted with self driving cars etc.

~~~
gaius
_We have all seen how little dealer support that electric cars need - not
enough to support the traditional IC engined cars with all their fail modes_

Isn’t this compensated for by them having fewer user serviceable or
diagnosable parts requiring a trip to the dealer for any maintenance? I don’t
know, just curious

~~~
aurizon
Yes, this gives fewer tasks that dealers can perform = less $$ earned. You
have all see the high rates charged for all jobs, compared to free market
repair shops and how they try to make it had for anyone but a dealer to access
data, same as Tesla

------
a2tech
The Detroit Auto Show (and most others) are dead, they just haven't stopped
moving yet. Year after year the displays have shrunk, and the focus has turned
to the LA auto show, and Chicago. I think we'll see the show circuit collapse
down to one, maybe two, premiere shows and the rest will go away.

------
rsync
I don't know why anyone is going to _any_ auto shows.

They can just send a flyer that says "blah blah not electric blah blah".

Done and done.

------
jrs95
I don't blame them, I wouldn't want to go to Detroit either.

Really though, I'd take about any excuse to go there because Detroit style
pizza is _amazing_. If you haven't had it, I highly recommend it.

But to be more on topic, I think it's really interesting that tech and cars
seems to be converging enough that CES is becoming more appealing than the
Detroit Auto Show. With Ford planning on cutting a large portion of their line
in the near future, it'll be really interesting to watch how this market
continues to change over the next decade or so.

