The Ultimate Automotive Extravaganza: VMS 2024 Steers Clear of Becoming Just Another Livestream ‘Car Bazaar’

After a 5-day run, the Vietnam Motor Show 2024 (VMS 2024) concluded its exhibition. This year’s event saw the absence of luxury car brands and Korean and American automakers, while three Chinese automakers made their debut appearance.

This year’s VMS was also deemed by many as the least vibrant exhibition in the past five years. However, the decline in the number of big brands is not unique to Vietnam, as many international auto shows have witnessed a similar scenario.

Many Brands Withdraw, Some Exhibitions Canceled

Earlier this year, Stellantis Group announced its withdrawal from the Chicago Auto Show 2024, one of the largest auto shows in the United States.

Commenting on the decision, the group that owns the Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep brands attributed it to the “challenging conditions in the US market.”

Stellantis’ decision left a sense of regret among the American car-loving community, as the Camp Jeep test track was one of the main attractions of the Chicago Auto Show in previous editions.

Chicago Auto Show 2024 without Stellantis. Image: Chicago Auto Show.

Another major auto show in the US, the North American International Auto Show, also known as the Detroit Auto Show due to its location in the “automotive capital” of Detroit, announced the cancellation of its 2024 event.

According to the organizers, the Detroit Auto Show will return to its traditional timeframe in January, instead of September as in the two most recent editions.

January is considered the ideal time for the Detroit Auto Show, as it doesn’t overlap with other major events in the US, such as the start of the school year or the NFL football season.

Detroit Auto Show will return in January 2025. Image: Detroit Auto Show.

Windsor Star opined that moving the event back to January seemed to attract more visitors. In January 2019, the Detroit Auto Show attracted 774,000 attendees. The number of visitors for the two most recent editions was not disclosed by the organizers.

The Rise of Chinese Auto Shows

The Geneva International Motor Show, one of the largest auto shows in the world, has also been confirmed to be “discontinued” from 2025. More accurately, the event will no longer be held in Geneva, Switzerland, but will take place in November 2025 in Doha, Qatar.

The declining scale of the Geneva International Motor Show in recent times is believed to be the main reason behind this decision. Specifically, the 2024 edition was so small that the organizers only utilized one hall of the Palexpo exhibition center instead of all seven halls as in previous exhibitions.

Geneva International Motor Show discontinued due to shrinking scale. Image: Auto Express.

The booths were mainly occupied by small startups or niche market players, although a few automotive giants such as Renault, Dacia, MG, Lucid, and BYD were also present. Some visitors even described it as a “Chinese car show extension” rather than an event of interest as before.

More recently, the Paris Auto Show also featured a significant number of Chinese automotive brands, including Aito, BYD, Dongfeng, GAC, Hongqi, Leapmotor, Maxus, and Xpeng, alongside European brands such as BMW, Audi, Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Peugeot, Renault, Skoda, and Volkswagen.

The rise of Chinese automobiles is not only impacting global auto shows but also indirectly making auto shows in their home country the focal point of the global automotive industry, surpassing events in the US or Europe.

Leading global automakers are also choosing the Chinese market to debut their new models or concept cars, instead of long-standing auto shows.

A prime example is the Beijing Auto Show 2024 (BJAS 2024), which took place over more than ten days in late April and early May, featuring a total of eight vast areas dedicated to automakers from around the world.

Beijing International Automotive Exhibition has a large scale.

According to Tri Thức – Znews, visitors would need an entire day just to walk through the exhibition, and if they wanted to get hands-on and experience each car, it would take 3-4 days.

Statistics from Reuters revealed that BJAS 2024 unveiled a total of 117 completely new models, surpassing the 97 new cars introduced by automakers at the previous year’s event. The organizers of BJAS 2024 also confirmed that the event featured a total of 278 new energy vehicles from participating automakers.

It can be said that BJAS and the Shanghai Auto Show, which will take place next year, are gradually becoming the largest international auto shows in the world.

VMS 2024 ‘Lucky’ Not to Become a Livestream ‘Car Bazaar’

It is evident that, except for auto shows held in China – the world’s largest automotive market, most auto exhibitions globally are facing challenges, including brand withdrawals or even postponements and cancellations.

The Vietnam Motor Show 2024 (VMS 2024) is no exception, as it was the first time that American, German, and Korean automakers were absent, and luxury car brands were also missing.

Motorcycle brands then joined, changing the official name of VMS 2024 to the Vietnam Auto and Motorcycle Show, instead of just automobiles as in previous years.

Motorcycle brands made their first appearance at VMS.

Nevertheless, VMS 2024 still attracted a significant number of visitors thanks to the presence of electric vehicles, hybrid cars, two-wheelers, and large-displacement motorcycles, especially with the participation of three Chinese automakers: GAC, BYD, and MG.

One of the “specialties” of the Vietnam Motor Show similar to Chinese auto shows is the energetic presence of sales consultants or car salespeople.

At BJAS 2024, Tri Thức – Znews witnessed a rather large number of salespeople livestreaming and finalizing deals right at the exhibition booths, creating a bustling atmosphere.

While this made the exhibition more vibrant, it also significantly affected the experience of visitors, turning BJAS into a car bazaar and diminishing the image of an international-scale auto show.

“Online car bazaar” at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition 2024.

Fortunately, at VMS 2024, although there were quite a few car salespeople present, the chaotic scene described above did not occur.

Many sales consultants from the participating automakers at VMS 2024 took the opportunity to shoot videos and photos for promotional content, personal branding, or sales purposes, but there was no noisy and disorganized livestreaming and deal-making as seen at BJAS 2024.

On the other hand, customers were also ready to “seal the deal” right at VMS 2024, similar to previous editions. On the last day of the event, the screens at the exhibitors’ booths continuously displayed information about successful bookings.

Customers booking cars at VMS 2024.

A sales consultant from a Japanese automaker present at VMS 2024 shared with Tri Thức – Znews that most customers had already researched the cars before coming to the event and only finalized the deal at VMS to enjoy additional discounts.

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