The 2021 Geneva Motor show is to be cancelled, with the next show being 2022. The cancellation shows the ripple effects of Covid on the financial viability of such events previously seen as "essential", but in a Covid world no longer deemed necessary.

The 2020 Geneva Motor show became one of the first casualties of the Covid-19 outbreak being cancelled two weeks before the World Health Organisation officially declared Covid-19 a pandemic. In 2019 the show attracted 600,000 visitors.

The Salon International de l'Automobile", the organiser of the show, is apparently now in talks with Palexpo SA, the convention centre owner, to sell the rights of the event to it for the future.

Such a major cancellation will continue to push attention to digital product releases, as car manufacturers continue to cut non essential costs with product releases.

The Geneva Motor Show being cancelled says two things to me.

1. Covid show interruptions, not just due to the pandemic but also financial imperatives, are more long term than we think.

2. Car launches are going digitally faster than we ever could have imagined