The Lehigh Valley Auto Show isn’t quite ready to get “On the Road Again.”
After pushing back the annual event from March to May and announcing mitigation strategies aimed at co-existing with the coronavirus, organizers said Saturday the 2021 auto show is canceled.
The Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers says its hand was forced by host Lehigh University prohibiting outside events on campus this spring.
“Our dealers planned to follow all state and local guidelines, and had put in place extra measures so that they could safely present a show,” Tom Kwiatek, the show’s executive director, said in a statement. “However, we understand Lehigh’s first responsibility is to its students and so we must abide by the university’s decision.”
Lehigh has hosted the springtime auto show for more than two decades at its Goodman Campus in Bethlehem. The emergence of COVID-19 canceled the 2020 show, as well, but organizers were hoping to return in 2021 with a five-day “On the Road Again”-themed show May 12-16. Plans were in the works to feature over 145,000 square feet of new cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers, vans and cycles.
Lehigh just this week announced a “cautious easing” of campus restrictions after a spike in COVID-19 cases began to abate.
The university says it looks forward to working with the auto show organizers on future events after deciding against hosting the 2021 edition.
“We made the decision for the health and safety of the campus community and to ensure all events at Lehigh comply with the protocols in place for the campus this spring,” university spokeswoman Lori Friedman told lehighvalleylive.com.
Instead of letting automotive fans and prospective buyers kick the tires, look under the hood and get behind the wheel of the latest models, the auto dealers association plans to present a virtual edition of the show this year.
According to Saturday’s announcement:
“It will begin with a 30-minute television program created by WFMZ-TV featuring videos supplied by the manufacturers. These will be coupled with local dealer interviews highlighting the new 2021 vehicles and products available on dealers’ lots. The program will air during the second week in May and will be broadcast multiple times.
“The 30 minute program will be followed by a web-based buyer’s guide that will be available on both the Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers Association website: glvada.org; and WFMZ-TV’s website: wfmz.com. The buyers guide will feature shorter videos by local dealers highlighting vehicles in individual market segments, e.g. compact SUVs, sports cars, sedans, so that buyers can still compare and contrast vehicles by different manufacturers.
“These segments may also include dealer specials and offers in conjunction with the virtual auto show. Dealers’ websites will be linked to these segments so that customers can learn more or schedule appointments to see vehicles in person. These segments will stay on both websites until the information on the 2022 auto show is available. In addition, the audio portion of these videos will be converted to podcasts and compiled in the Lehigh Valley Car Talk program. More information on these will be available when they are produced.”
Organizers are planning for the live Lehigh Valley Auto Show to return March 16 to March 20 in 2022.
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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
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