DC Auto Show postponed due to COVID-19

Washington Auto Show
The Washington Auto Show is always popular. Here’s what it looked like in 2020. (WTOP/John Aaron)

The Washington, D.C., Auto Show will not be held as planned March 26 through April 4. Show organizers cite the ongoing coronavirus health emergency in D.C. and around the world.

The show’s organizers are working with the D.C. government and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to find dates later in the spring for the auto show, though no specific future dates were given.

The D.C. Auto Show is the District’s largest annual indoor event, and has been held every year since the end of World War II.

The 2020 D.C. Auto Show was one of last year’s best-attended shows in its history, and featured more than 600 new vehicles from three dozen automakers.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and health or our loyal attendees, our participating exhibitors and all those who work so hard to make the show a success every yea,” said event CEO John O’Donnell in a statement.

“With that in mind, we are doing everything we can to host a show in 2021 that meets the high standards our visitors are used to, while ensuring that our region stays safe and finally defeats this terrible pandemic.”

This is the second time the 2021 car show has been postponed. Before being moved to late March, the event was originally slated for Jan. 29.

Organizers say an update on potential new dates will be announced in the coming months.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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