Organizers for Detroit's North American International Auto Show are contemplating shifting the event's dates from January to October.
The news comes from the Detroit Free Press, which followed up on an initial report by the Wall Street Journal of a possible schedule change for this continent's most important auto show.
Recent years have seen the NAIAS facing increasing competition from other events, including the Las Vegas-based Consumer Electronics Show (CES), whose automotive content has increased in recent years.
A move to October would also make Detroit the first auto show of the season - an enviable spot currently occupied by November's Los Angeles auto show - and raise its profile. That could give automakers like Porsche, Mazda and Jaguar a reason to come back to Detroit, and it might keep Mercedes-Benz AG from skipping future shows, which it announced last month it might do.
But detractors suggest setting the NAIAS in the fall could set it up to conflict with the Frankfurt and Paris auto shows.
Any change would follow the next edition of the Detroit show, already set for January of 2019. This year, the NAIAS's organizers said the event's public days attracted more than 800,000 attendees.
