Will The Company be the Only One
BMW Motorrad announced it will not go to Intermot and EICMA this year because of the Coronavirus. The company announced this on April 1, so there was some speculation as to whether or not this was a joke, but it is not a joke. According to RideApart, a BMW Motorrad Italy marketing manager and a BMW Motorrad Canada public relations representative both said that this is indeed the case.
“Manufacturers in all industries across the globe are in the midst of making adjustments to a new reality and a challenging year ahead,” said BMW Canada PR, Robert Dexter. In the press release put out by BMW, the company says the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 is behind the company’s decision to pull out of these European motorcycle shows.
While this is a blow to those motorcycle shows, BMW will still be able to reveal bikes easily. Several companies have held digital events and Livestream events to reveal new bikes and products. This works pretty well, although there is no substitute for seeing a motorcycle in the flesh. It will be interesting to see if other manufacturers follow in BMW’s footsteps. I’d expect many of them are waiting to see what happens with the Coronavirus. Those shows are pretty far off still and it’s unclear how bad the pandemic will be in future months.