Sandro Mesquita, a veteran marketing and communications executive, will be the next CEO of the Geneva auto show. effective May 1. He succeeds Olivier Rihs, who said last November that he would step down March 31 of this year.
This year's Geneva show was canceled on Feb. 28, only a few days before it was due to begin in early March, after the Swiss authorities imposed a ban on gatherings as the coronavirus outbreak spread through Europe. The late cancellation angered exhibitors, who in some cases had spent millions to reserve display space.
Mesquita is currently managing director for the advertising company Publicis in Switzerland. Before joining Publicis in 2013, he held marketing and business development positions in telecommunications and energy companies.