With the People’s Republic of China being the world’s largest national car market, the country’s most significant auto show is an important event for automakers, both foreign and domestic. Obviously, it’s been hit-or-miss if public health conditions allow large-scale events to be hosted in China. Now, the 2022 Beijing Motor Show is postponed indefinitely.
Auto China (the Beijing Motor Show) and Auto Shanghai rotate holding their show each year. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, neither Beijing nor Shanghai had canceled their shows in the last two years. The 2020 Beijing Motor Show was initially scheduled for April of that year but was delayed until late September by the pandemic.
Though, by the time the 2021 Auto Shanghai came around, it was held in April as usual. A show that featured a protester climbing atop a Tesla to tell the entire convention center about how the brakes on her father’s Model 3 allegedly failed.
In March, It was announced that this year’s Beijing Motor Show wouldn’t be held in April. New event dates weren’t announced, and it was confirmed today that a rise in COVID cases means that there won’t be new dates for some time. According to Reuters, the Secretariat of Auto China stated in a WeChat post, “We will pay close attention to the development of the epidemic, and strive to enhance the event’s organization and service work according to the requirements of the epidemic prevention and control policy.”
Audi was slated to debut its A6 e-tron Avant in Beijing. Also, Chinese-owned MG was expected to reveal a new electric hatchback. I wouldn’t be surprised if this postponement scuttled plans for several other automakers. The Beijing Motor Show could be held later in the year, like in 2020, but it would require the number of COVID cases in China to drop.
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