'09 Detroit Auto Show, now with 100% less Nissan
by Alex Nunez on Jan 6th 2009 at 9:28AM 
Visitors to the Detroit Auto Show will be able to eyeball a bunch of Chinese cars that have virtually no hope of ever being sold in the U.S., but they won't be able to scope out the Maxima... or 370Z... or Cube. You'll remember that Nissan formally announced that neither it nor its luxobrand Infiniti would participate in this year's exhibition, joining a parade of other no-shows. You'll also remember that local dealers had elected to supply their own vehicles to give the brand a floor presence in lieu of the spiked corporate display. That plan is now as dead as the Detroit Auto Show is shaping up to be, since the Tennessee mothership has pulled rank and
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mike 9:34AM (1/06/2009)
I'm sure they won't be missed.
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happy_penguin 12:44PM (1/06/2009)
I would have liked to see the GTR but other than that, Nissan either bores me or makes me want to gouge my eyes out.
Epyx 9:36AM (1/06/2009)
I dont understand the logic of not allowing the dealers to show up with lot cars. Doesnt cost Nissan/Infinity anything and the dealers get the walk by traffic. I can only figure Nissan feels leting the dealers do there marketing for them will delute the brand and make them look low rent or something.
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Dude 10:02AM (1/06/2009)
Being that most of the Press is full of idiots and report without checking the facts, Nissan is probably afraid of a PR nightmare of having Detroit car salesmen making false or misleading statements about the cars they sell.
Because we all know that would never happen.
Mazda FTW! 9:39AM (1/06/2009)
Earlier I felt it was simply a question of cutting-back on a show and instead focusing on more important markets in an economic hard-time.
But now asking the dealers to not show up either is a slap in the face of Detroit. Not to mention so many people who travel even from here in Ontario to the NAIAS.
Suddenly I have more appreciation for Toyota and less for Nissan.
Apart from the GT-R there is nothing Nissan sells that we won't see on every street within the next few months anyway.
Classy move, Nissan. We shall see how the tide turns.
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zamafir 9:48AM (1/06/2009)
So true, Detroit should protest by purchasing less Nissans.
Judy Zik 2:22PM (1/06/2009)
Really bad PR. We all understood the whole cost cutting thing but baning the dealers is just stupid. Life has to be tough enough already for anyone trying to sell Nissans in Detroit. This can't help. I think I will skip Detroit too.
I just hope they don't skip the Toronto Auto Show too. I would hate to have to actually pay for parking this year.
dkw 9:40AM (1/06/2009)
I do not understand the rationale for this decision.
If individual dealers want to show (advertise) the product that they sell, and it does not cost the parent company (Nissan) any money, why would this not be encouraged?
Can someone tell me what I'm missing here? This surely isn't a way to insult Detroit and the NAIAS, is it?
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zamafir 9:56AM (1/06/2009)
"This surely isn't a way to insult Detroit and the NAIAS, is it?"
No, I don't think Nissan cares. Look at nation wide car sales, now look at the economic situation in Detroit, the job loss, the amount of people applying for significant help with even the most basic of necessities (increase in food aid, etc), things are very bad in Detroit and MI. I've been thinking about it, everyone complaining Nissan is deliberately trying to offend Detroit needs to return to reality, Detroit isn't the center of any universe. Ever been to a car show staffed/stocked by car dealers? It happens in California a lot, San Diego's or Ontario's, and the effect is a lot less imperssive than when the manufacturer show up. It's that simple. Nissan's not coming and doesn't want a sub par display, all or nothing.
Mazda FTW! 10:04AM (1/06/2009)
zamafir - I don't at all question your logic. It makes sense. But keep in the NAIAS is still seen as the premier auto show in North America, esp by people who live outside the States and are not aware of the fact that imports sell more on the coast or whatever. Even here in Canada a lot of people aim more for the Detroit show than others (Chicago, NY) and a lot of the international media also focuses on the NAIAS.
zamafir 10:16AM (1/06/2009)
... was the premiere auto show. It's almost silly to assume everything will remain as it was last year or a decade ago given the state of the automotive industry. It's been the premiere auto show mostly because it has been, that's nostalgia. I don't think it'd be to outlandish to assume car makers will continue to focus on shows like LA where we have a city and state not in the throws of such a massive crisis as Detroit and MI (yes, still in crisis, but California is still the most populous and wealthiest state). It's a lot like Apple pulling out of MacWorld. In today's reality, with the internet so primed to provide information, with people so tenaciously watching blogs, and conventional news sources siting them, it doesn't make sense to shovel huge amounts of cash into trade shows, they're obsolete. The tech industry caught on first, and now we will see car makers doing the same, diverting resources to real forms of advertising with real returns. Nostalgia vs harsh reality.
Mazda FTW! 10:36AM (1/06/2009)
Perhaps. But in mid-Feb when the Toronto Auto Show hits our city, every man, women, child and elderly person treks it downtown through snow/-25C cold and hour long line-ups to go and see the cars.
It maybe outdated according to pure logic but that doesn't seem to stop people from getting excited about them. And no matter how much things change, Detroit will always be the car capital.
zamafir 10:42AM (1/06/2009)
to you? sure. that's fine. but to the industry? not really, hence the changes we see brewing.
happy_penguin 12:37PM (1/06/2009)
" Detroit isn't the center of any universe."
Neither is Los Angeles.
Kumar 1:18PM (1/06/2009)
If I wanted to see dealers showing their cars, I would've just gone to the show in Indianapolis. Why travel to Detroit to see what can be seen by driving down the street?
I've gone to the show for the past 6 years, but thankfully it's an add-on for a yearly trip, as it's getting worse every year.
BigMcLargeHuge 9:50AM (1/06/2009)
Perhaps they don't want to advertize last-year models.
The local dealers would just be showing off marked-down obsolete 2008s. Kinda tacky.
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J.Case. 12:25PM (1/07/2009)
clearly, you haven't been on a dealer lot in the last decade. the '08 models have long been gone (most since early to mid fall) as is custom in every brand. and whatever '08's are left are few and far between. the next model year usually hits dealer floors well into the previous year (with the exception of select models).
hell, even just watching the TV will tell you that (model year-end-clearance-event-tent-a-thon spectacular!). these events are designed to clear out remaining inventory from the previous model year because the new model year HAS ALREADY HIT the lot and dealers need the room.
so, nissan banning their dealers from showing a presence in Detroit has nothing to do with not wanting to advertise '08 and has everything to do with the 'all or nothing' reasoning. Big Press/ Big Show = Big Corporate Display or No Display at All!!!
BigMcLargeHuge 8:49PM (1/07/2009)
Except when they do a model change-over. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the 350Z was ending as a 2008 model and the 370Z is starting as a 2010 model.
How many inventory 370Z's do dealers have in Detroit? I was thinking quite few. Meaning the only sports car the dealer would bring would be the.....
2008 350Z.
Jakesnake1294 9:59AM (1/06/2009)
I have actually bought cars that I fell in love with at an auto show. I can't count the number of times that I wanted to sit in the driver's seat of a car at an auto show, when I could have just gone to a dealership and done the same thing. But the magic just wasn't there. Too bad Nissan, I may not be the only one.
"C'mon lady! Get your brat out of the cockpit of that Dodge Caravan. He can't drive for 10 more years anyways!" (me in the offchance I might trade my BMW 330 ci in for a minivan. Auto shows make me craaazzzy like that.)
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John 10:14AM (1/06/2009)
Trade your beautifully engineered and perfectly tuned BMW 330 ci for a minivan? That is blasphemy!