With less than two weeks to go, organisers have cancelled the New York motor show.
Yesterday the organising committee announced the show was off “due to the growing incidences of the Covid-19 Delta variant and the increased measures announced recently by State and local officials to stop its spread”.
This year’s New York show was due to host a number of global launches, including the new Subaru WRX and Nissan Z.
There was also going be a large emphasis on electric vehicles, with one of the show floors featuring four EV test tracks.
Thanks to a successful early vaccination drive, in May and June, the US was enjoying its lowest its Coronavirus caseload and death rate since the pandemic started.
As vaccination take up slowed to a crawl, and the Delta variant made its way into the country, infection rates have soared dramatically upwards in the past few weeks.
This has prompted New York City to introduce the “The Key to NYC Pass” program, which requires people to show proof of vaccination to enjoy indoor activities, including restaurants, gyms, Broadway shows, and, yes, motor shows.
Last year’s show was also postponed before it was ultimately cancelled. During the height of the pandemic last year, the Javits Center was being used as a field hospital to increase the city’s hospital bed capacity.
The organisers are confident the show “will rebound and be bigger and better than before”, and are planning to run the 2022 edition in April during its traditional spring timeslot.
While the Chicago motor show and a number of motor shows in China have taken place this year, many have been cancelled, including Detroit, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
