2023-08-25 14:30:50
The Geneva International Motor Show has been a top event in the automotive world for more than a century. But change country.
Qatar may seem like an unexpected place to host the Geneva International Motor Show. After all, Geneva is right in the name, and 4,500 kilometers from the small Middle Eastern country. But come October 2023, that is precisely what will be gone.
Since its inception in 1905, it has been considered one of the most important motor shows in the world. In recent years, the large influx and participation of luxury brands has made it the launching pad for a series of supercars, hypercars and megacars such as those from Koenigsegg and Rimac.
However, the Geneva Motor Show is very much a stationary event, held in a convention center with the cars parked on plush carpets and lacquered revolving pedestals.
The idea of seeing high-performance machines routinely setting global speed records sitting completely still is, well…serious. That’s why the show organizers sought to transform the show into a high-octane (or, in this electric age, high-electron) immersive and experiential festival.
“We want it to move, metaphorically and literally,” Sandro Mesquita, executive director of the Geneva International Motor Show, also known more concisely as “GIMS,” explained to me when I visited Qatar earlier this year.
“The idea of a festival where you can drive or be driven in the vehicles that interest you is something we love. And when we thought about the best way to do it, taking into account the different types of vehicles of our present brands, we knew that Qatar would be an ideal place”.
Here’s why Mesquita’s vision for the GIMS Qatar festival experience (October 5-14, 2023) looks tremendously promising.
There are people in Qatar who love cars
The Qatar Automobile Museum is due to officially open in 2025, but part of the exhibit is already operational and visitors can come and see part of the personal collection of Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim bin Faisal Al-Thani, located about 25 minutes from the center. from Doha.
Al-Thani is one of Qatar’s most successful businessmen and played a pivotal role in the development of the Qatari economy. It’s an absurd amount of vehicles, with a fair amount of weird American elements mixed in.
Why is it not done in Geneva anymore?
The Geneva Motor Show was the first to be canceled with the start of the pandemic and closed in 2020, a few days before its scheduled opening date.
While other auto shows have returned since the initial pandemic shutdown, organizers in Geneva have been unable to do so, partly because the show had already started to lose exhibitors before the pandemic.
The show
Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) in Qatar
From October 5 to 14:
2 – 10 pm (every day) | 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. (Saturdays)
They will showcase 32 of the world’s most recognized automotive brands, showcasing an innovative array of new cars, making it the pinnacle of auto shows in the Middle East and beyond.
1693111413
#Geneva #International #Motor #Show #moved #Qatar