Detroit 3: Bitching About Closed Markets Beats Really Trying

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Akio Toyoda at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show

If you want to sell cars, you need to market them. Except in Japan, say the Detroit 3. In Japan, it’s easier and cheaper to complain about closed markets and manipulated currencies than to waste money trying to sell cars. After the jump, you will find a list of automakers that will display their cars at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show. You probably can imagine who is not on this list.

2013 Tokyo Motor ShowParticipantsPassenger CarsDAIHATSU (Japan)HONDA (Japan)LEXUS (Japan)NISSAN (Japan)MAZDA (Japan)MITSUBISHI (Japan)SUBARU (Japan)SUZUKI (Japan)TOYOTA (Japan)ALPINA (Germany)AMG (Germany)AUDI (Germany)BMW (Germany)CITROËN (France)JAGUAR (U.K.)LAND ROVER (U.K.)MERCEDES-BENZ (Germany)MINI (Germany)PEUGEOT (France)PORSCHE (Germany)RADICAL (U.K.)RENAULT (France)SMART (Germany)VOLKSWAGEN (Germany)VOLVO (Sweden)Commercial VehiclesHINO (Japan)ISUZU (Japan)MITSUBISHI-FUSO (Japan)UD TRUCKS (Japan)HYUNDAI (Korea)VOLVO TRUCK (Sweden)

For the third time in a row, Detroit automakers are not participating in the Tokyo Motor Show, held at Tokyo Big Sight on Tokyo’s Odaiba Island between Nov. 22 and Dec. 1. Understandably, they did not come during the dark days of 2009. But even when things improved, they were not back at the biannual show. German companies, such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes on the other hand will again deliver full court appearances.

As you can see, Tokyo will be a cozy show again, and full attention would be guaranteed, unlike in China, where you are one of a few hundred participants, and the place is so mobbed that people won’t get to your cars. But God forbid, what would happen if Japanese showgoers suddenly detect their love for Detroit iron and buy it? Can’t have that.

The list of the participants reflects genuine interests in making sales in Japan. Detroit is not interested, while maintaining loudly that they would be, if only those nasty Japanese would let them.

The Los Angeles Auto Show is exactly on the same days of the Tokyo bash, from Nov. 22 to Dec. 1. It’s one of those coincidences.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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