The Geneva Motor Show: where does it stand, and what is left at Palexpo?

Many visitors are still looking for the dates of the Geneva Motor Show. The answer is clear: the Geneva International Motor Show, GIMS, has no Geneva edition announced. Its foundation gave up holding it in Geneva and applied for dissolution, and the concept now lives in Qatar.

This page tells what happened, what is still held at Palexpo for car enthusiasts, and what it changes for a trip to Geneva. Above all, it avoids one confusion: the regional show in March is not the return of GIMS.

What happened to GIMS?

Photo: Alexandre Prévot from Nancy, France, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A fall over six years. The 2020 edition was cancelled at the last minute, at the start of the pandemic, when it was due to be held at Palexpo. Three years without a show in Geneva followed, during which the format went abroad: the first Qatari edition was held in Doha in 2023.

The 2024 edition did happen, with 168,000 visitors announced by a summary source. But 37 exhibitors, for a show that had been carmakers' global showcase, already spelled the end. GIMS Qatar was announced from 27 November to 6 December 2025 in Doha, now its home.

So this is not a pause followed by a comeback, but a lasting move. Any page announcing a "Geneva Motor Show 2026" or "2027" is talking about something else, or is wrong.

Why did Geneva lose its motor show?

The show dated back to 1905. Its strength lay less in Swiss industry, almost absent from cars, than in its neutrality: no big national carmaker dominated it, as in Paris, Frankfurt (since replaced by Munich) or Milan. Geneva was an international meeting place, a stone's throw from an airport.

That neutrality was also its weakness. When brands cut their trade show budgets and preferred their own events, Geneva had no strong domestic market to hold on to exhibitors. The sources, on the other hand, publish no figure for the economic benefits lost to the city, and we will not put one forward.

What is still on at Palexpo for cars?

autoXpérience, the regional show in March

The event that took over is called autoXpérience Genève. Its 2026 edition was held from 5 to 8 March 2026 at Palexpo, from 10am to 8pm Thursday to Saturday and until 6pm on Sunday.

It is a regional sales show for French-speaking Switzerland, where people come to "discover, test, compare and choose" a new vehicle, not a showcase of concept cars and world premieres. The sources publish neither the list of brands, nor the entry price, nor the test-drive schedule, and no 2027 date has been announced yet.

The Used Car Show, in November

If you are in Geneva this autumn, this is the date to note: from 12 to 15 November 2026 at Palexpo, with around 550 used or new cars announced. It opens on Thursday from 11am to 10pm, Friday from 11am to 8:30pm, Saturday from 10am to 8:30pm and Sunday from 10am to 6pm.

It runs at the same time as the Automnales, Palexpo's big autumn fair, listed from 6 to 15 November 2026 in trade fair calendars.

Photo: Markus Eigenheer from Genève, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Which day should you go to a Palexpo show?

None of these shows publishes attendance curves. Our field rule, which is not a measurement: come early on a weekday. Thursday and Friday mornings are the most comfortable slots for test-driving a vehicle or talking to a salesperson, Friday afternoon and Saturday the busiest.

Sunday closes earlier, at 6pm, which cuts the time available for test drives. The sources say nothing about queues for test drives, the number of bookings possible or the car park capacity.

How do you get to Palexpo?

Palexpo is at 30 Route François-Peyrot, in Grand-Saconnex, right next to the airport. From Cornavin station, the train reaches the airport in 6 to 7 minutes, and buses 5, 50 and 59 serve the Grand-Saconnex, Palexpo stop.

By car, the site's car parks do not publish their prices in our sources, and access gets congested on busy days. A park and ride in the north of the city, then the bus, remains the safest option, as explained in Geneva's park and ride sites and parking in Geneva. The full network is in getting around Geneva.

What is Palexpo's big week now?

Photo: SurrogateSlav, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The watch week. Comparing the two shows is misleading, by the way: they share Palexpo and the city's hotels, but not the sector, the audience or the model. The watch fair, for its part, grows with every edition: 49,000 unique visitors in 2024, nearly 60,000 in 2026, according to the organiser.

Watches and Wonders runs from 5 to 11 April 2027, with a free programme in the city centre. It is all in our Watches and Wonders 2027 guide, and the question of a room, the hardest of the year, in where to stay during Watches and Wonders.

What is there to do in Geneva if you love fine mechanics?

If cars brought you to Geneva, watchmaking is the natural switch: precision mechanics, complications, artistic crafts. The Patek Philippe Museum and the Rue du Rhône boutiques can be visited all year, as detailed in watchmaking in Geneva.

And for engineering on a grand scale, CERN, by tram from the centre, shows machines of an entirely different dimension. The rest of the programme is in things to do in Geneva.

Things we do not know

• The autoXpérience 2027 dates, not announced as of 22 October 2026.
• The entry price of autoXpérience and the Used Car Show, and whether entry is free.
• The list of brands and models on display.
• Attendance at the first autoXpérience, described as "a success" with no figure.
• The economic benefits and hotel nights of the last GIMS.

We will update this page at the first announcement. To plan a stay in Geneva by season, see when to go to Geneva.

Sources

Sources: ibc-aviation.com (Geneva International Motor Show timeline, updated in 2026), autonews-dz.com (cancellation of the 2025 edition), City of Geneva (autoXpérience Genève 2026 listing, 19 January 2026), Palexpo (autoXpérience press release of 26 February 2026, calendar, 2026 Used Car Show page), exposale.net (trade fair listing), ryo.co (practical guide, 16 October 2026), Watches and Wonders Geneva (2026 figures).

The GIMS 2024 attendance figures come from a summary source, not an official report. Research carried out on 22 October 2026.