The Detroit Three have pulled out of the Tokyo Motor Show later this year.


Defections continue at major auto shows in 2009, with the announcement from Ford, General Motors and Chrysler that they are skipping the Tokyo Motor Show in October.

This news follows the public opening of the North American International Auto Show this week in Detroit, where at least eight important automakers skipped the event. Attendance at major auto shows used to be almost de rigueur for automakers, which traditionally have used the events for splashy unveilings of their newest models.
Japan is not a significant market for any of the Detroit Three, and each American automaker said that the decision to forgo the Tokyo show was based on new, harsher economic priorities. But the absence of Ford, G.M. and Chrysler from Tokyo would still be a major blow to the show’s image and prestige, and the news reportedly sent show organizers into meetings to decide whether the show ought to be canceled entirely. The Tokyo show is held only once every two years; the last show, in 2007, was somewhat smaller than the one in 2005 because of a downturn in the Japanese domestic market.
Although the next two auto shows — Geneva in March and New York in April — report no major dropouts, the current slowdown in the economy and new car market has affected the number of new-model launches from automakers. This means fewer introductions, leaving the relevance of so many large auto shows — there are at least six this year — in doubt.
Automakers themselves have also increasingly undermined the element of surprise at auto shows by leaking advance photos and information about their vehicle introductions, in hopes of getting a jump on their competitors in media coverage.
Some analysts wonder whether these flashy shows, with their acres of new cars, fancy displays and lavish entertainment, have become anachronisms of a bygone era in the auto industry — when horsepower, glitz and the aura of glamour were still politically correct.