Geneva motor show 2024: MG confirmed, BYD likely

The Geneva motor show hasn't been held since 2019, due to the pandemic and its after-effects

Chinese brands to join Renault at reinvigorated event, defying snubs from other European giants

Chinese car-making giant MG Motor has confirmed it will be present at the 2024 Geneva motor show, where it is expected to reveal a major update to one or more key models.

These may include the next-generation MG 3 supermini or a new Marvel R family SUV. The latter is set to launch in the UK for the first time, having initially been confined to left-hand-drive markets.

Fellow Chinese manufacturer BYD is also likely to be present at Geneva, as it ramps up its European expansion plans. 

Hyundai, on the other hand, won't attend the 2024 show, joining Stellantis and a host of German manufacturers in snubbing the event, which will return after a five-year hiatus.

This followed the former largest motor show in Europe's Covid-enforced last-minute cancellation in 2020, which left many manufacturers hugely out of pocket.

Hyundai, which is understood to be one of those reeling from the way the show was cancelled just days before it was set to open, previously confirmed to Autocar that it won't attending, but did not offer further comment.

It followed German brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi in snubbing the show, reported Automotive News Europe.

Volkswagen was another to confirm its non-attendance, sparking rumours that fellow Volkswagen Group brands, such as Cupra, Porsche and Skoda, also won't attend – although they’ve yet to individually confirm either way.

Stellantis – parent of 14 brands, including Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall – is another not expected to travel, after CEO Carlos Tavares’s confession that he’s reluctant to spend huge sums of money on show appearances.

The multinational powerhouse has already confirmed that it won't be heading to next year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Renault, however, has already confirmed it will attend February’s show, which it said “showcases for major advances responding to the transformation of mobility” and “remains a place for manufacturers and visitors to share their passion for cars”.

On the worry about costs, Geneva show boss Sandro Mesquita previously told Autocar that while the 2024 event will be based in the traditional exhibition centre, it will be revamped to decrease costs and offer a better return on investment for exhibitors. 

Manufacturers can continue to have custom stands but can also buy “plug-and-play booths”. Mesquita explained: “We will have four sizes, and exhibitors rent the stand and can then personalise it with their corporate identity.”

He added: “We never asked them to build cathedrals, but we understand they may want to keep control of their image, so we won’t impose plug-and-play booths for everyone. At the end of the day, what’s important is the product. That’s the hero, so we want to give them the best platform to showcase it.”

*Geneva motor show to return in 2024*

The Geneva motor show will return next year in a slimmed-down revamped format that will have “the car at the centre”, according to its organisers.

The historic Swiss event hasn’t run for the past four years, after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the pandemic and “uncertainties in the global economy” prevented a 2023 comeback.

Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) recently staged its first event since 2019 with a new Geneva-branded spin-off show in Qatar. That is intended to be a biennial event, while the plan is for the main Geneva show to run every year.

The 2024 event is scheduled for 25 February to 3 March, and boss Sandro Mesquita has told Autocar “there is no doubt at all” that it will go ahead.

“It’s important to say it's confirmed,” he added. “The only question will be the size, because that will depend on the number [of manufacturers]. But we have enough responses to confirm we can move forward.”

While questions have been raised about the future of the event, Mesquita said: “I believe there is a place for the Geneva show in Europe. I was at the Paris show [in 2022] and in Munich [this year], and Geneva remains different.

"We will continue to be a motor show with the car at the centre. We will not be a mobility show: that is not our DNA or vision. We will put the car at the centre, although we will welcome in the ecosystem around it, such as charging.”

Mesquita did acknowledge that the show will be smaller than in previous years and hinted at the challenges of reviving the event after a five-year break.

“It’s the first time after the pandemic, so we need to restart the engine, “ he said. “We’re working to have a good quality of exhibitors. That’s the main objective.”

*Additional reporting by James Attwood and Charlie Martin*