Columbus International Auto Show returns to city for first time since 2019

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Columbus International Auto Show has returned to Columbus amid the ongoing semiconductor chip and car shortage, for the first time since 2019.

The auto show will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. It started March 16 and runs through March 19 from noon to 9 p.m. daily.

Kelly Danison, Columbus International Auto Show manager, said she believes The Jeep Grand Wagoneer, Ford F-150 Lightning, and electric vehicles will all draw thousands of visitors -- even though those are the vehicles with bells and whistles requiring chips.

“The heated seats, the electronics and the dashboards -- all of those things take a chip, so that inventory has just been a little light and therefore it effects the inventory for our dealers and the new cars that they have on the lots," Danison said. "But I haven’t seen this many cars in one space since 2019, so we are pretty excited."

Visitors NBC4 talked with were still lined up before the doors opened to see a show that hasn't been held in Columbus in three years.

“My grandson and I have been coming to the car show for a long time. He’s got to this age that he’s still hanging with his granddad,” Columbus resident Samuel Freeman said.