Philly Auto Show Roars Back With A New Sense of Purpose

After the pandemic hiatus last year, the 120 year-old Philadelphia Auto Show rolled back into the Pennsylvania Convention Center this week leaner in terms of overall size but with a renewed sense of purpose.

Long a national bellwether of auto sales trends, in 2020 some 45% of attendees of the Philly Auto Show bought a car within 12 months. These stats are expected to soar this year as consumer demand outstrips vehicle supply.

With plenty of competition from online info and buying services, the biggest advantage of the Auto Show this year is that it may be the only opportunity the public will have to see a large selection of new vehicles in one place.

With persistent supply chain disruptions and sustained electronic chip shortages, vehicle inventories are way down, with no real prospect of returning to the days of overflowing dealership lots.

According to Philly Auto Show Executive Director Kevin Mazzucola, the current market environment has made the naturally competitive auto dealers more focused on customers than the selling process. This means dealers are putting more resources into the customer experience and service aspects of the business.