In its first January show in six years, the Detroit Auto Show saw attendance tumble by two-thirds of what it was before the pandemic.
The Detroit Auto Show said Wednesday that 275,000 people came to Huntington Place during the show last month, down 65% from recent years.
The last January show in 2019, which had 774,179 visitors, marked the turning point for the Detroit show when it came to releasing attendance figures. That number disappointed at the time, as it marked a drop of 35,000 visitors from 2018. In 2016, the show had nearly 816,000 attendees.
Detroit economic impact
The 2025 auto show had an estimated economic impact projected up to $370 million, according to David Sowerby, managing director and portfolio manager at Ancora, a private wealth management firm. That’s down from $430 million the firm calculated in 2019.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“Bringing the Detroit Auto Show back to January felt like coming home; there was a sense of familiarity and community, of being right where we belong,” Sam Klemet, executive director of the Detroit Auto Show, said in a statement.
The COVID-19 pandemic upended the show through 2021, when the North American International Auto Show came to the Pontiac M1 Concourse. The show was held in September for 2022 and 2023. The Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which puts on the show, never announced official attendance for those years.
Charity Preview
The Charity Preview, which charges $400 for a ticket, raised $1.7 million for six children’s charities in southeast Michigan this year thanks to roughly 7,000 attendees. Since its establishment in 1976, the event has raised more than $125 million. Referred to as “auto prom,” the black-tie event was held Jan. 11. In 2019, the gala drew more than 10,000 attendees, according to a news release from that year, and raised $4 million.
发表回复