New Date for Beijing Auto Show: Sept. 26

The Beijing auto show, which was scheduled for April 21-30, was one of the first major automotive events to be postponed or canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Now it’s one of the first to announce a new date. Organizers plan to hold the rescheduled show this autumn from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5.

Uncertain Plans

The brief announcement didn’t provide any details about the September event. But the show likely will be very different and smaller than in the past.

The biennial Beijing event, which alternates with the Shanghai auto show, typically draws about 800,000 visitors—including 5,500 attendees from overseas—and 1,200 exhibitors.

It’s hard to imagine coordinating, much less holding, such a massive international undertaking on relatively short notice as uncertainty about the coronavirus continues around the world.

China, which was the first to be hit by the pandemic, is slowly ramping up car production, but sales continue to lag. Europe and the U.S. aren’t expected to gain much traction until at least June.

Other Shows

After the decision was made in February to postpone the Beijing show, cancellations of other events around the world followed as the virus spread. The auto show list includes Geneva, New York, Sao Paulo and, most recently, Detroit.

The New York show, which originally was scheduled for next week, was postponed in early March. At that time, organizers ambitiously set a new date of Aug. 26-Sept. 6, which now seems unlikely. New York City has become the epicenter for COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and the Jacob K. Javits convention center, where the annual auto show is held, has been converted into a hospital.

Detroit also is converting the TCF Center (formerly Cobo Center), which normally houses its show, into a 900-bed emergency hospital to help handle Michigan’s rising number of COVID-19 victims. As a result, the 2020 auto show was canceled entirely. The 2021 event is on tap for next June.