Stellantis withdrawal from the North American auto show circuit.

[Throwback]

An Italian and a Frenchman walk into a bar. The bartender says, "what's up, fellas?"

The Frenchman says, "we are dropping those filthy muscle cars!"

The Italian says, "but we're replacing them with electric Fiats!"

The bartender produces a shotgun from beneath the bar, "Get the ____ out of here, now!"

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[916WI]

An absolute disaster. Who wants a rebadged Alfa?

Exactly--If you're going to get an Alfa, get one that's branded as such. I love mine........

 

[aldo98229]

Bragging about record profits and then whining nonstop that they don’t have any money gets old fast.

I am not going to defend their decision to pull from auto shows, nor try to find the wisdom in it. All I know is that other than squeezing record profits, so far Stellantis hasn’t proved very good at much else.

 

[wchevron]

Haven't been to a car show since I was 14. Went with a buddy, he brought his camera to take pictures of the new cars/trucks. Going through the pictures after he had them developed (early 80's). There were 5 pictures of cars and 19 pictures of models in bikinis.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

But seriously, can we keep politics out of this thread? We're all adults, right?

If we were all adults here, we'd be able to talk politics....

 

[JTsGarage]

Stellantis may be the biggest automaker to make this decision so far but it won't be the last. I think the pandemic era forced even the most stubborn of industries to reassess how they do things. When the auto shows went away, brands like Jeep revealed the Grand Cherokee and Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer totally online with great success. At a major auto show you're competing with different brands for coverage from influencers, legacy media, etc. Easy decision to save some money and do it in a more efficient way.

 

[aldo98229]

Automakers have little control over how youtubers present their vehicles online. They have a lot more control in an auto show setting.

They will be back eventually.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Automakers have little control over how youtubers present their vehicles online. They have a lot more control in an auto show setting.

They will be back eventually.

I wouldn't be so sure. Aside from the lower-production boutique marques like Ferrari, the last auto show I went to in DC pre-pandemic (a typically bigger one) right about the time the Giulia was just coming into the market. They had a Quadrofoglio on display, I do recall that.

Anyway, it didn't have any representation from BMW, Porsche, Jaguar and a few others I'm forgetting. What was there far as variety was limited and sparse. Mercedes had a massive area, minimal vehicles. Same for Subaru, GM, etc.

The pandemic changed everything and candidly, aside from the driving experience tour events GM has done in the past, a static car show is a bore.

 

[downtroddengoat]

The pandemic changed everything and candidly, aside from the driving experience tour events GM has done in the past, a static car show is a bore.

I think that the pandemic rapidly accelerated a trend that was already in process (save for the work from home scene).

For instance, I don't remember the last time I called a restraunt to place an order. Similarly, all but my weekly groceries are pretty much ordered online. I have now sold two cars via carvana all online and bought three autos (including the JTM), largely online or through emails, from regular dealerships. Dealers that didn't respond to my outreach and wanted me to take a day off work to speak to me in person, lost sales.

Other trades shows, such as CES (consumer electronics show) or NAMM (national association of music merchants) are just a fraction of what it used to be. This is in part due to to the changing circumstances of a digital world, but also budgets have to be justified and supported with analytics.

With the information and affinity advertising that is available, companies can focus ad dollars on people that click and buy, rather than simply lighting dollars on fire for a trade show and sending a smoke cloud up hoping for conversion to sales.

 

[Hootbro]

Well, they are not going to be at the Philly show this weekend. Sort of pissed as I bought my tickets on a Black Friday discount after Thanksgiving with the understanding they would be there.

https://www.phillyautoshow.com/floor-plan/

Debating giving my tickets away to somebody at work.

 

[kubankevin]

Poor sales all around the FCA Lineup, UAW Strike and the subsequent raises they had to give, dealerships all around the US taking huge chunks of money off MSRP pricing to barely move product, and still cannot because interest rates are higher than Ozzy in a Black Sabbath concert. It’s all catching up to them. They already offered contract buyouts for a bunch of UAW workers and they warned in December that huge job cuts are coming. The FCA section of Stellantis is hurting bad. Dark times ahead for the big three. But hey, at least Shawn Fain got the raise he wanted!

 

[916WI]

I manage the trade show program for the company I work for. That industry is an absolute racket and the most frustrating part of my job. Everything is 10X the cost that it should be and when you factor in the labor unions of certain cities the accountability drops to the floor while the costs rise to the ceiling. I work for a smaller distribution company and we will probably spend $750K at the builders' show in LV in February--there are very few analytics to measure the return on that investment. I can't imagine how much FCA would save by removing themselves from their events--it has to be millions. If there is a way for any company to pull themselves out of that cesspool, they should jump at the opportunity. I would look at it as being more responsible with their organization's dollars............

 

[MPMB]

I manage the trade show program for the company I work for. That industry is an absolute racket and the most frustrating part of my job. Everything is 10X the cost that it should be and when you factor in the labor unions of certain cities the accountability drops to the floor while the costs rise to the ceiling. I work for a smaller distribution company and we will probably spend $750K at the builders' show in LV in February--there are very few analytics to measure the return on that investment. I can't imagine how much FCA would save by removing themselves from their events--it has to be millions. If there is a way for any company to pull themselves out of that cesspool, they should jump at the opportunity. I would look at it as being more responsible with their organization's dollars............

Yeah, I've done some small tradeshows that revealed the protectionist stupidity of the industry. Rent a $60 plastic table for $300 dollars for 2 days. Anything that has to be built/assembled/moved has to be done by the facilities contracted company at 2-3X any rational labor rate. It's why tons of exhibitors have their own little roller display.

Have auto show attendance been trending downward (before covid?)? It seems auto shows are a press-friendly event, not a buyer-friendly event. Buyers watch YT reviews and "real" testing.

I tend to avoid any publication like R&T or Motor Trend because they don't offer anything insightful. I feel that this is a reflection of the general auto show circuit (outside SEMA).

EJS and other overland expos seem to be a better marketing spend for Jeep.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Yeah, I've done some small tradeshows that revealed the protectionist stupidity of the industry. Rent a $60 plastic table for $300 dollars for 2 days. Anything that has to be built/assembled/moved has to be done by the facilities contracted company at 2-3X any rational labor rate. It's why tons of exhibitors have their own little roller display.

Captive audience X justification of price because of tax write off ability X jobs program.

 

[aldo98229]

Poor sales all around the FCA Lineup, UAW Strike and the subsequent raises they had to give, dealerships all around the US taking huge chunks of money off MSRP pricing to barely move product, and still cannot because interest rates are higher than Ozzy in a Black Sabbath concert. It’s all catching up to them. They already offered contract buyouts for a bunch of UAW workers and they warned in December that huge job cuts are coming. The FCA section of Stellantis is hurting bad. Dark times ahead for the big three. But hey, at least Shawn Fain got the raise he wanted!

Sure. Just like Tavares got the ridiculous price hikes that he wanted. For awhile anyway...

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