Geneva Car Show Is Canceled, So Car Makers Take Show Online
February 28 2020 - 1:50PM
Dow Jones News
By William Boston
BERLIN--The Geneva Motor Show was canceled, but that's not
stopping some auto makers from showing off their latest cars and
futuristic concept vehicles.
BMW AG, the German luxury car maker, had planned to launch a new
electric vehicle, the i4, at next week's show, the 90th anniversary
of the Geneva Motor Show. Shortly after the cancellation was
announced, BMW changed gears and decided to put the presentations
it had planned for Geneva online in a virtual news conference.
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse will make the presentation at the time
originally scheduled for the news conference in Geneva--8:15 a.m.
local time on March 3--viewable in a live stream over the
internet.
"Of course we understand the decision, but we also regret that
the show can not take place as usual," BMW said in a statement.
Mercedes-Benz, the luxury car maker owned by Daimler AG, said it
would live stream the launch of its new E-Class vehicle online at
08:45 a.m. on March 3, the time scheduled for its presentation in
Geneva.
Even the Geneva show organizers are getting in on the act. The
Car of the Year awards, typically the first event kicking off the
show each year, will be held online on the show's website at 3 p.m.
on March 2. The seven candidates for the prize this year are the
BMW 1-Series, Ford Puma, Peugeot 208, Porsche Taycan, Renault Clio,
Tesla Model 3, and the Toyota Corolla.
Write to William Boston at William.Boston@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 28, 2020 13:35 ET (18:35 GMT)
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