We were extremely excited to see the innovations announced earlier this year by BMW and confirmed to be unveiled for the first time at the Consumers Electronics Show in January. Unfortunately, we will have to check them out online, via a digital stream, as the Bavarian company announced yesterday that it will not be present at the show in person, to avoid the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
This adds yet another big name to the ever growing list of companies that will not be present on location at CES. A number of car makers published similar announcements in recent months, including Mercedes-Benz most recently. Among the things we were curious to check out in person was the new BMW iX M60 model as well as the color-changing paint announced a while back. At least we’ll still get to see them.
The official statement regarding this situations says: “For many years, the BMW Group has been presenting innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Due to the pandemic situation, the BMW Group will move all planned media activities at CES to a fully digital program livestreamed from Germany.” Therefore, if you’re curious about everything BMW had to show, you’ll be able to keep up online.
Mercedes-Benz is apparently doing the same thing, according to a report from CNET. There was no official confirmation from the company so far but we wouldn’t be surprised to see that happening in the following hours. GM was the first car maker to drop out of the CES, where the debut of the Chevrolet Silverado EV was slated to take place. Among those who haven’t changed their mind yet you’ll find Chrysler and Hyundai. Slated to start on January 5, in Las Vegas, this year’s CES will definitely be a rather empty one.
