Detroit: Room For Two Auto Shows?

By Rex Roy
Senior Contributor
Michigan Bureau
The Auto Channel

Motor Bella made its soggy debut September 21. The new outdoor auto show was a practical response to the cancellation of multiple dates for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and a general trend away from major indoor public events.

The question everybody wants to know is whether Motor Bella was a success.

Regardless of what the attendance data will show – if ever released – kudos are due to M1 Concourse founder and real estate mogul Paul Zlotoff, his M1 team, and the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) organization for making Motor Bella actually happen. It was a huge undertaking.

The M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan is a striking motorsports country club and an emerging regional event facility. Insider expectations were that Motor Bella would emerge as a harbinger of death for traditional indoor convention-center-based auto shows.

I’m not so sure. My observations about Motor Bella come from my blended employment background. I was a full-time auto journalist from 2004-2011 and attended major shows from LA to Rio to Geneva. I transitioned into PR and event marketing in late 2011, and continue in both fields today.

Starting in the late 2000s when I was still a full-time journo, I started hearing rumbles that traditional auto shows like NAIAS were dying. I’ve since read countless articles, editorials and social posts about the demise of these events. If you use 2005 as the standard, traditional auto shows have seen a contraction. Manufacturers have found more efficient and less expensive ways to engage the media. The multi-million-dollar media introductions that drove major shows in Detroit, New York, LA and Chicago are artifacts of a bygone era. But it’s been almost 15 years since those first predictions, and traditional auto shows aren’t dead yet. If Motor Bella teaches any lesson, it demonstrates how hard it is to reach scale. For the promoters, the auto dealers who are the backbone of the event, people through the gate matter more than anything.

In 2019, the most recent of Detroit’s North American International Auto Show, the 19-day event held in February attracted 4,568 journalists from 60 countries and the public gate exceeding 774,000. While weather could be an issue for getting to the show, other than a leaky Cobo Hall roof during Detroit’s dysfunctional Mayor Kilpatrick administration, inside Cobo was always dry and 70-something-degrees. The economic impact to the Detroit region was estimated to be $430 million, or equivalent to two Super Bowls. (Full stats are here:)

What I witnessed at Motor Bella this past week clearly demonstrates that experiential events like this could grow to augment traditional auto shows. The displays were engaging and the hands-on experiences were exciting. However, Motor Bella isn’t likely to replace the NAIAS anytime soon. There wasn’t enough industry news made at the event, and the venue simply can’t move enough people through.

I attended Motor Bella’s Media Day on Tuesday, September 21. Industry and consumer days followed through Sunday September 26. Here’s what I observed compared to my last traditional Detroit auto show in 2019;

Motor Bella offers no on-site parking. Everyone, even media, were bussed from a rather ragged parking lot a mile or so from the track. The shuttle bus arrangement lacked basic signage and weather protection for attendees. The bus service was also slow on Monday.

Detroit offered scores of parking options from spots right at Cobo to outlying sites that people would use and then walk or take the People Mover to the show. Over the years, everybody developed their own favorite way to the show.
Motor Bella offered little in the way of on-site signage and wayfinding. This made for lots of wandering, and would be something to address for future events.

Signage for the NAIAS was well developed and clear. Doing an event for decades has its advantages. Plus, the public had an institutional knowledge about the show regarding what was where.

Maybe a couple hundred media attended Motor Bella’s 2 major reveals.

Media attendance was around 5-10% of NAIAS 2019.

At NAIAS 2019, 31 new vehicles made their debut, with a total of 44 making their U.S. Debut.

Monday’s rain forced the press conferences inside to Motor Bella’s just-opened event facility.

The experiential activations at Motor Bella were great. There were multiple off-road driving experiences, several brands provided opportunities for on-road test drives, and thrill rides were offered in high performance cars on a section of the M1 Concourse race track. The displays were engaging when it wasn’t raining. When it was raining … not so much. Michigan’s weather is known for being mercurial, especially in the Fall.

While Cobo/TCF Center and downtown Detroit can offer many things, the ability to do outdoor driving activities isn't one of them. Motor Bella wins this element easily.

However, with the expectation of a Fall 2022 NAIAS, more opportunities for outdoor activations become available.

The M1 Concourse is a great facility, but it’s an 80+ acre race track. Displays were spread out and often separated by Armco and tire barriers. Many Motor Bella displays were on grass. This was not a friendly environment for those with mobility issues, disabilities, or good shoes you didn’t want to get wet and muddy.

Cobo/TCF Center has some advantages for some showgoers because of it’s a contained, ADA-compliant venue.

Rain literally and figuratively dampened attendance Monday. Tuesday September 22 was a total wash out. The rain also compromised the opening of several experiential displays later in the show.

Rain wouldn’t have been an issue at Cobo/TCF.

For many, visiting the auto show in Detroit was a tradition combined with other activities like eating out. This is yet another reason why Motor Bella won’t register the regional economic impact of the traditional show.

Of the Motor Bella’s expected seven-day run, two were slated for media and industry, while five were for the general public. One day was a rain out, and rain compromised attendance a couple other days.

The Detroit auto show typically had two+ weeks of public days, plus industry days plus media days. The NAIAS also hosted its Charity Preview event that attracted 10,000+ guests alone, and helped raise tens of millions for charity. Motor Bella has a high bar to reach regarding attendance regardless of the metric you choose; average daily attendance, best day, total, etc.

In its current form, Motor Bella’s attendance will never equal NAIAS. Logistically, it’s not possible because the ability for throughput (how many people you can move in and out of the event space) simply isn’t there.
Metro Detroit auto dealers want their products in front of consumers, and Motor Bella likely didn’t deliver at the volume Detroit Auto Dealers Association would have hoped. This fact alone tells me that there’s room in Detroit for both shows; Motor Bella and some incarnation of a more traditional show.
While attendance at traditional auto shows has declined from its zenith, there are similar trends in sports including Major League Baseball and NASCAR. These declines are real, but the fact remains that MLB and NASCAR still draw huge crowds. The same is true for traditional auto shows held around the country.
Earlier this year, the head of the NAIAS Rod Alberts said that the Detroit Auto Dealers Association (the organization behind NAIAS) will hold a show downtown in the Fall of 2022. Details are scarce, but auto shows help sell cars and turbocharge Detroit’s economy, so expect a great effort to follow through this next incarnation of the traditional show. This fact from the Chicago auto show is critical; Foresight Research reported that nearly 70 percent of adults who visit the Chicago Auto Show (circa 2019) were in the market to purchase a vehicle within 12 months. The stats are likely similar to Detroit. Don’t discount this important fact.
Where does this leave Motor Bella at the M1 Concourse? It may be a one-year wonder. It may be an adjunct event to the Downtown NAIAS show. It may remain a completely separate event. We get to wait and see. But for today, don’t think for a minute the traditional auto show is dead in Detroit.