- Before being canceled outright over COVID-19, the 2020 Detroit Auto Show was permanently moved from January to June.
- The rescheduling most likely helped avoid what would have been a catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19, The Detroit Free Press reports, as an international auto show of Detroit's caliber would have attracted worldwide industry employees and packed them all in one place with everyone else.
- The next Detroit Auto Show is scheduled for 2021, as the convention center where it's held has been converted into a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients.
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The annual North American International Auto Show, also known as the Detroit Auto Show, has long been held in January - an ungodly frigid time of year when automakers flaunt their latest and greatest.
The show was thus rescheduled to June from this year onward in an overhaul meant to make it more pleasant and accessible, and that rescheduling might have prevented a catastrophe.
Historically held in the beginning of January, the NAIAS is as its name suggests: an international affair. Thousands of executives, engineers, journalists, and other staffers from home and abroad descend upon downtown Detroit's TCF Center - formerly Cobo Center - to host unveilings, give interviews, provide support, and poke around the new cars and technology.
The June 2020 show has been canceled outright in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. But given the low level of coronavirus concern in the US in January, The Detroit Free Press rightfully reports that its prior rescheduling likely helped avoid what could have been a disastrous viral outbreak.