The Detroit Auto Show marked its return to a traditional January schedule on Friday in a quiet way.
Friday was the first media day for the 2025 edition. It was the only media day and lasted four hours. In previous years, when the event had international status, the show conducted multiple media days.
Still organizers sounded an optimistic note.
“We have an auto that’s coming back full throttle,” Karl Zimmermann, chairman of the show, said at an opening event on Friday morning.
The Detroit show formerly was a major forum for new vehicle introductions by automakers. However, over time, some automakers took a pass on the Detroit show in favor of other means of marketing. The Consumers Electronics Show, now CES, in Las Vegas, also held in January, became a place to make announcements concerning automotive technology.
The Detroit show had moved to the fall in recent years. The weather was warmer and there were more outside activities. But organizers opted to return to January in 2025.
“I think coming back to January makes a lot of sense,” said Brent Snavely, vice president of media relations at Franco, an agency with automotive clients. While weather is nicer in the fall, the auto show has other competition for attention, including University of Michigan and Michigan State University football, he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the move to fall. Even in the Detroit area, the Battery Show, which played up the development of electronic vehicles, has become a big event in the fall in Detroit.
At the Detroit show’s peak, in the 1990s and early 2000s, the show floor was jammed with automaker displays. Top industry executives were in town to make presentations and provide interviews.
In 2025, much of the floor space is devoted to driving demonstrations from the likes of Ford Motor Co. and the Jeep division of Stellantis.
Auto shows generally have confronted challenges. Some automakers target some shows but not others. The industry is amid change, including development of electric vehicles and looming competition from automakers in China.
Those industry concerns weigh on companies. Snavely also attended CES this week. “The mood for legacy automakers and suppliers was subdued” because of industry challenges, he said.
Still, the Detroit Ford yielded some industry news.
On Thursday night, ahead of the start of the auto show, Ford announced special editions of the Ford Mustang.
With the Detroit show’s return to January, the announcements of the North American car, truck, and utility vehicles of the year again kick off the event. On Friday, the Honda Civic Hybrid was named car of the year, the Ford Ranger as truck of the year, and the Volkswagen ID. Buzz as utility of the year.
