REPORT: Hyundai last overseas automaker to drop out of Tokyo Motor Show
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Sep 29th 2009 at 8:00AM 
With apologies to Freddie Mercury and company, another one bites the dust. Hyundai was literally the final major automaker not based in Japan with plans to attend the Tokyo Motor Show next month, and now, the final holdout has apparently canceled its appearance at the show. According to Automotive News, Toyokazu Ishida, who administers the international exhibition for the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said, "Hyundai called last week and orally confirmed their intent to cancel... It's unbelievable."Hyundai has yet to offer any official confirmation of the news or give any reason as to why it won't be making the trek to Tokyo, but the reasons seem obvious – it's certainly not cheap to pack up a ton of cars and trucks and ship them all the way to Japan. Hyundai is already out a reported 10.9 million yen ($122,000) in nonrefundable fees for its 4,300-square-foot exhibit, but that sum surely pales in comparison to the millions it would cost to actually go through with the event.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Paul 8:05AM (9/29/2009)
Not too much of a surprise - hopefully Tokyo will be the last "recession auto show" and Detroit will be the first "recovery auto show."
Considering how much is riding on Detroit being killer the next two years, I wouldn't be surprised if the show reflects that.
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Invisible 8:53AM (9/29/2009)
Hyundai is afraid to go to Japan and showcase their cars. Kinda of embarrassing to show blatant copies of Japanese cars in Japan.
Bob-omb 10:47AM (9/29/2009)
Nice try. I'd be embarrassed if I were Toyota or Honda seeing what bloated monsters my cars had become next to a Sonata.
click_playaz 11:58AM (9/29/2009)
Invisible@ I love your statement. I really hate Korean for making a copy of Japanese cars. People say Japanese cars look cheap, then Korean cars even cheaper. Those people may drive a cheaper then.
Back to the topic, I don't care about Hyundai crap. Show me the Subieyota, or maybe Supra concept. I will think about having a new car.
Rar 2:00PM (9/29/2009)
@click_playaz
Sound like a Japanese nationalist troll...
Your comments..
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Forza 3 celebrates the Ferraris in our lives, joins GT5 in celebration of the 458 Italia {Autoblog}
I will only get GT5. I got GT5P.
0-60 builds its own Need For Speed racing cabinet, tells you how {Autoblog}
Wow I also have NFS Shift. hmm But I don't think it's as good as GT5P. I don't feel sense of the real car like I play GT5P.
Frankfurt 2009: Porsche Turbo Coupe and Cab take all the cake {Autoblog}
That's a nice car. Did it get comparison with the GT-R? lolz... Which one is going to win in the ring?
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"Nippon Banzai' Japanese nationalist troll.
click_playaz 7:34PM (9/29/2009)
Rar@ I'm not. I also love BMW and Ford, but I just don't like the way Korean does. Oh maybe u drive a cheaper car then.
Paul 7:51PM (9/29/2009)
you "dont like the way Korean does"
sooo you dont like how they do what the Japanese do at a better price point and (now) with a better product?
Yeah... no one likes better things cheaper.
geo.stewart 8:20AM (9/29/2009)
I'm sorry, but if you find out EVERYONE else has decided not to come to the dinner party, you have to rethink whether you should be going or not.
If no one else can justify it, then maybe they are on to something.
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jv2k 9:01AM (9/29/2009)
given how closed off the japanese market is im not sure why anyone bothers showing up.
this show is pretty much just the developers going:
"look at all the cars we can't sell here japanese press!"
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Rar 11:01AM (9/29/2009)
The only two non-Japanese companies participating in Tokyo Motor Show: BMW Alpina, Lotus.
Rboyett 9:03AM (9/29/2009)
Why spend the money showing off cars in a country that doesn't buy them? Japan has been the Incredibly Shrinking Car Market for several years now. Add to that the fact that the VAST majority of Japanese will only buy Japanese cars and you begin to see why no one is going.
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Rar 9:30AM (9/29/2009)
Original Copycar machine Japanese says Korean cars are copy. it's funny.
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http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=58&vf=1
When Toyota launched its Lexus luxury car brand a decade ago it made no secret that it had Mercedes in it sights.
Ten years later, the Japanese are sending in the clones with increasing frequency.
It's not just the expensive models which European makers accuse Japan of copying. Consider, for example, the headlights on the latest Toyota Tarago. Now picture those of the Peugeot 206. Look familiar? Looks as if they should share the same part number.
When Audi's TT coupe and convertible were unveiled, diminutive Japanese maker Daihatsu had a car with an amazing likeness displayed at the very next Tokyo Motor Show called the Kopen. The latest Lexus coupe, due here before the end of the year, looks like a larger interpretation of Audi's Bauhaus design.
Daihatsu has also built a miniature Hummer and, bizzarely, called it the Naked. And in 1999 at the same show, Mitsubishi took the wraps off a car that, if you squinted, you would swear blind was a new Mini.
What about the "teardrops" on the headlights on latest batch of Hondas, such as the HR-V, Odyssey and the new Integra? A hint of BMW 3 Series perhaps? The tailights on the HR-V have a remarkable resemblance to the Volvo 850 wagon's.
From a distance, Toyota's square-shaped MR2 looks like a Porsche Boxster.
The original Toyota Celica was so inspired by the Ford Mustang of the era that today's enthusiasts call it the "Mustang Celica".
Now, even after 10 years, Lexus still hasn't broken its clone-like mould. The latest Lexus LS430 has the sillouette of the superseded Mercedes S Class and a headlight theme borrowed from the new S Class.
When the covers came off the fourth generation Lexus at the Detroit Motor Show two years ago, Mercedes-Benz broke its corporate silence over what it called "Japanese copycat cars" but stopped short of calling it plagiarism.
"People explain to us it is really an honour to have someone copy our cars, but I don't think we see it that way any more," said Harald Leschke, the head of design at Mercedes-Benz. "I think it is quite obvious that they admire the design, then try to do it their way. I'm sure in some industries this sort of thing is not legal.
"What surprises us most is that [Lexus] are prepared to do it, in public, and that customers are prepared to buy their copycat cars."
"I think it's fair to say all their cars have been influenced by someone else's models," he said. "They don't have a history so they have to copy someone else's."
Industry experts argue that a flagship Lexus made sense when it was considerably cheaper than the German benchmarks. But now that it is priced the same, there's less incentive to drive an imitation. Nevertheless, Europe's car maker have now become so concerned about Japan's sincere forms of flattery that they are wary of showing concept cars of future models.
Porsche, for example, has deliberately not shown "design studies" of its Cayenne off-roader because it fears a Japanese maker will be able to release its interpretation just as Porsche unveils the real thing.
[...]
The lack of history is also an Achilles heel. "Japan had no horse-and-carriage era. True, the nobility were transported in carriages for a time, but these were import!!ed or the designs were copied.
"So the country skipped a critical phase in its maturation process as a car stylist. Too often, designers took the easy option and borrowed looks from around the world."
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jv2k 10:41AM (9/29/2009)
and silence falls from the "koreans are copycats" crowd.
fmwso 11:30AM (9/29/2009)
great post
apearlman 12:35PM (9/29/2009)
"... pack up a ton of cars and trucks..." Interesting choice of words. That's, like, half a car.
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Julius 1:34PM (9/29/2009)
jv2k and Rboyett have it exactly right.
"Imports" have an approximate 5% market share. And that means ALL imports - European, American, Korean...
So I'd think Tokyo's status as the "Show for Asia" will soon be overshadowed by the Shanghai show - if it hasn't already.
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Simonsays 1:56PM (9/29/2009)
Sounds like the marketing department made another smart move.
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JRM 8:34AM (9/30/2009)
The only foreign cars you ever get to see on the roads in Japan (in any significant number) are VWs.
I live out in the Japanese countryside and there are no dealerships other than Suzuki, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Daihatsu. You have to go to the "big city" to buy any foreign car, and because of their obscurity, they are much more expensive. This means that a Hyundai's price advantage is cancelled out--especially because they're so similar to Japanese cars.
Same reason why cheap Asian cars don't come to america because their price advantage disappears when factoring all the shipping and retail sales costs.
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