Detroit Auto Show DOA?

by Robert Farago

Published: November 24th, 2008

When Ferrari, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Rolls Royce and Land Rover withdrew from the Detroit Auto Show, well, who cares? Niche manufacturers all. But now that Nissan has announced that it’s pulled the plug on the North American International Auto Show, it’s the middle of the beginning of the end for the show. MSNBC carries the story, reporting that the Japanese automaker’s official statement on the non-matter. “Based on the fact that we have no major new products to show at the 2009 Detroit and Chicago auto shows, as well as the current economic conditions which will impact the shows’ marketing effectiveness, we have decided to cancel our involvement and participation.” Wow! Both their involvement AND their participation? That’s some serious you-know-what. MSNBC rubs salt into the wound, bringing-up the inconvenient truth that Nissan unveiled the Cube at the LA Auto Show.(forgetting to mention the 370Z U.S. debut). The bigger picture: Detroit is no longer the center of the automotive universe.

Robert Farago

More by Robert Farago

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 30 comments

Ronnie Schreiber on Nov 25, 2008
It’s too damn expensive for what it is, though. Get press credentials. Smaller crowds, you get to talk to the execs and designers and there's free food. I'm interested to see how the current mess will affect spending on food and press materials at the NAIAS and Chicago shows.

Like Reply
Ronnie Schreiber on Nov 25, 2008
Toronto has hardly any introductions and few concepts, but when it does showcase products, it does those that might not get much airtime at the bigger shows. One nice thing about Toronto is that the companies often bring in some of the more successful concepts from the previous year's US shows so you get another look at them. Also, from a journalistic standpoint, the smaller crowd of reporters make it easier to get at higher level execs. I was able to ask Mark Fields some questions at Toronto and with the crush of folks at the Ford NAIAS reveals, and the preference given to prominent journalists and media outlets that's not as likely. I think I was the last person to interview Wolfgang Bernhard before he got canned.

Like Reply
Boston on Nov 27, 2008

By ghetto, I mean unemployed, homeless, alcoholics (plural) on every corner.

Like Reply
Fallout11 on Dec 02, 2008

Detroit has lost population every decade for 60 years, and even the dead are being disinterred and relocated by relatives fleeing Detroit. The Renaissance City never did, rather it has become synonymous with urban blight and decay, a modern ruin with entire city blocks filled with crumbling, decaying, or bulldozed structures. Crime, drugs, and homelessness exceed other metropolitan averages, and huge swaths of the city are abandoned, with prairie and wild animals overtaking large areas visible even from satellite imagery. Houses can be had for $9, much less $9000. In short, the very definition of "ghetto". Best of all, I can provide external links to respectable publications to support everything I've just typed, often with exact quotations, from those who are not blinded to the forest in front of them.

Like Reply