Nissan pulls out of Detroit and Chicago shows

DETROIT : November 24, 2008 - Nissan North America has dropped out of next year's Detroit and Chicago auto shows, citing depressed economic conditions.


The decision makes Nissan the biggest automaker to skip out on Detroit's North American International Auto Show. In addition to Nissan and its Infiniti brand, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Land Rover, Rolls-Royce and Ferrari have withdrawn from the January venue. Chicago's show is scheduled for February.

Both events draw media attention from all over the world in addition to displaying product line-ups to local consumers.

Nissan corporate spokesman Alan Buddendeck said the decision reflects the state of the industry and not the Detroit and Chicago shows themselves.

He said the Japanese automaker believes it got its new-product messages for 2009 across at the Los Angeles auto show last week. The company unveiled the 370Z roadster and the upcoming Cube in Los Angeles.

'Not a small line item'

Automakers across the industry are tightening budgets to conserve cash as sales of new vehicles plummet to 25-year lows.

In comments to reporters in Los Angeles, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said he is no longer interested, for now at least, in creating an affiliation with a North American automaker, as he has been over the past two years. Instead, he said, he is focused on conserving cash.

Buddendeck declined to say how much Nissan will save by pulling out of Detroit and Chicago.

He added: "It's not a small line item on your marketing budget."

[Source : Automotive News - Sub. Req.]