Detroit auto show will return to former January slot

The North American International Detroit Auto Show will return to its original January slot in 2025.

The Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which produces the show, said in a statement that the show will run Jan. 10-20 after two years of summer shows in September. The annual Charity Preview will be Jan. 10, and public days for the show will be Jan. 11-20.

"Our primary goal is to create an impactful auto show and showcase our great city and industry," Rod Alberts, executive director of the association, said in a statement. "After discussions with numerous partners, we believe a January date absolutely makes the most sense. In a constantly changing global automotive landscape, this update reflects our efforts to continue to reimagine the Detroit Auto Show with keeping an eye on what matters most — getting people excited about cars.”

A spokesperson for the show said details on media and industry/technology days would be announced at a later date. Those components have been a fixture of auto shows past and drew media from around the globe to see new-vehicle introductions, which have dwindled in recent years.

The auto dealers association informed the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau that the summer show would be nixed this year in favor of the traditional winter date, bureau CEO Claude Molinari told Crain's Detroit Business, a sibling publication of Automotive News. The last winter show took place in 2019.

The show was held in September the past two years after a COVID-19 pandemic-induced pause.

“The Detroit and Southeast Michigan hospitality community, we’re thrilled by this move to have an incredible show during a time of the year that has historically not been the best time to sell major meetings and conventions.”

A message left for Alberts was not immediately returned.

The Detroit News first reported plans for the calendar shift.

The summer edition of the auto show was rolled out as a way to reinvigorate an event that had steadily lost attention and participation over the years because of competing shows and changes in the way automakers reach customers. The indoor-outdoor hybrid model in the summer sought to engage the community with more general interest appeal, including free activations and nonautomotive entertainment.

Hoverboards, dinosaurs and the Jeep-inspired massive rubber duck certainly brought intrigue, but some critics argued it took attention away from the main attraction: the cars. Last September, organizers opted for fewer gimmicks to turn the focus back on the brands that keep the show rolling.

The show, supported by an $8 million state grant, featured 35 brands across the 723,000-square-foot show floor. Organizers said 16 of the brands were corporate-sponsored, and the rest were displays put together by dealers. The grant carved from the state budget was used to "solidify Michigan's lead in the mobility and electrification sector," Alberts told Crain's last summer.

News of the Detroit show reverting to its traditional slot comes amid CES in Las Vegas, which has attracted many automakers and especially suppliers in recent years looking to showcase their latest technology. Competition from CES had been cited as one potential benefit of moving the Detroit show to the summer.

But Molinari said a winter show just makes better sense. "To have the Detroit international auto show back in January is going to be majorly positive for our restaurants and our hotels and our attractions."