New York Auto Show is pushed back to August due to coronavirus fears

The New York Auto Show has been rescheduled to late August through early September due to coronavirus fears, organizers announced late Tuesday. 

The high-profile car convention was set to start on April 10, however, the 10-day event has been pushed back to Aug. 28 through Sept. 6. as coronavirus cases continue to rise in New York state. 

“We are taking this extraordinary step to help protect our attendees, exhibitors and all participants from the coronavirus,” said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, the organization that owns and operates the New York Auto Show, in a statement. 

Organizers previously said they planned to install dozens of hand-sanitizing stations throughout the sprawling event space on Manhattan’s west side. Many of the exhibitors have been alerted about the event shifting to late in the summer. 

“The decision to move the show dates didn’t come easy,” Schienberg noted. The annual show, which attracts thousands of visitors and over 100 exhibitors each year, brings in more than $330 million, organizers said in a press release. 

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Earlier in March, the Geneva Auto Show was canceled for the first time in its 115-year-history after Swiss officials banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people in the wake of coronavirus. 

The Frankfurt Motor Show, one of the biggest car shows in Europe, was canceled in February and the Beijing Auto Show has been “postponed” due to the outbreak.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Detroit auto show had announced in 2018 plans to move to June this year for the first time after previously being held in January. Organizers in Detroit said they are “closely monitoring” the situation.