Detroit Auto Show releases schedule for January 2025 return

Organizers of the Detroit Auto Show, previously called the North American International Auto Show, released an 11-day show calendar Tuesday for when the event returns in January 2025.

The show is returning to its original January timeframe after Detroit Auto Dealers Association organizers tested out September shows in 2022 and 2023. Organizers are taking 2024 off and bringing the show back to Huntington Place in downtown Detroit from Friday, Jan. 10 to Monday, Jan. 20.

The Detroit News was first to report earlier this year that the auto show would be moved to January 2025. The last January show took place in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers had proposed moving the show to the summer to showcase Detroit during its warmer months, allow for outdoor activities and provide a more festival-like approach, as many auto shows were facing challenges.

Although the September shows were able to take advantage of the outdoors more, the dates came shortly after back-to-school busyness and amid the kickoff to football season.

The dealer organizers said in a Tuesday release that the 2025 event will provide “automakers and partners a flexible schedule for product and technology debuts while bringing consumers new experiences and innovative vehicles as well as educational opportunities.”

This year, exhibitors will be able to schedule press conferences and reveals throughout the show instead of just on media days, for example.

“As we reimagine the show, we’re being agile about scheduling events to meet the needs and preferences of key stakeholders,” Detroit Auto Show Co-Executive Director Rod Alberts said in a statement. “OEMs and show partners will have the opportunity to directly reach out to customers with product announcements during the public show or have media- and industry-focused events as in the past.”

In May, the DADA announced Sam Klemet as the show’s new co-executive director. Klemet will work with Alberts, who’s led the show for three decades, as organizers seek to redefine the event, something other national auto shows are doing as automakers cut back on expensive reveals and displays.

Dropping the North American International Auto Show name is meant to bring the show back to its roots and remind people that Detroit is the Motor City.

“We haven’t been in January since 2019, so we saw this as an opportunity to kind of rebrand ourselves, and it’s not even a rebranding, it’s almost going back to what we’ve always been.” Klemet said in an interview. “We’re much more of a consumer-focused show now, and I think we want to represent that by talking about our automotive history here in Detroit.”

Klemet added the show still has “the ability to attract the international media, we still have the opportunity to attract unveils and to attract a lot of attention. I would say in no capacity are we moving towards more of a regional show, but more we are highlighting who we are and … our heritage here.”

Detroit Auto Show schedule

• Friday, Jan. 10: Media day, which includes the announcement of the 2025 winners of the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) awards and EyesOn Design Awards
• Friday, Jan. 10: Charity Preview to cap off the first day of the show. Entertainment will be announced later this summer. Tickets go on sale Oct. 14 and will be $400 each or $700 a pair. 
• Saturday, Jan. 11 through Monday, Jan. 20: Public show dates
• Wednesday, Jan. 15 and Thursday, Jan. 16: Industry days with a mobility global forum and AutoMobili-D technology showcase, and Future Innovators, a new program with 1,000-plus high school and college students invited to visit the show to learn about career opportunities.
• Monday, Jan. 20: The show will have special programming for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Tickets will go on sale to the public on Oct. 14. Visit detroitautoshow.com for the up-to-date show details.

After deciding to move away from January originally, the DADA planned for a June 2020 show, which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Show organizers in 2021 opted to have an outdoor event at M1 Concourse in Pontiac called Motor Bella.

The Detroit show returned in 2022 in mid-September with several reveals, an indoor electric vehicle track, a visit from President Joe Biden and outdoor activations and attractions, including a giant inflatable duck.

The 2023 show focused on sprawling displays from the Detroit Three and competed for press attention with United Auto Workers’ contract negotiations with the automakers.

khall@detroitnews.com

@bykaleahall