After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the 78th edition of the Auto Show opened its doors to the media on Thursday at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal and the trend is towards electric vehicles.
The public opening is planned for Friday, where car lovers can discover, among other things, the manufacturers’ innovations.
“This year, at our 78th edition, it will be the largest edition where there will be the most electric vehicles or low-consumption, zero-emission vehicles. We’re talking about a total of 67 vehicles, out of the 220 presented by the manufacturers,” said Denis Dessureault, executive vice president of the show, in an interview with TVA Nouvelles.
The return of the Salon seems to have been appreciated.
“After two years it felt good and we also felt it from the people, the hundred or so media who attended, we are really happy,” he added.
However, the automotive sector is slowly recovering, with a lower dealer participation rate than in previous editions. “It’s the post-pandemic era, the microprocessor crisis that we know, stocks at retailers are just starting to replenish, so they’re really decisions made by manufacturers who weren’t there this year, a year,” confirmed Mr. Dessureault, regarding the absence of certain dealers.
“Inventory is picking up again, there’s definitely a lot of enthusiasm for electric vehicles,” he added.
There are usually six major auto shows in Canada, but only three this year: Montreal, Toronto and Quebec.
For comparison, Mr. Dessureault recalled that in the United States there is roughly one auto show per state. The drop in participation is global, he says.