Mitsubishi Won't Show At 2009 Detroit Auto Show

Kid Rock may feel as if there's "no party like a Detroit party," but the folks at Mitsubishi beg to differ. Last week, marketing directors revealed the company will skip the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

It's not the only brand abstaining from the show, either. The same week, Ferrari, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, and Suzuki all announced withdrawal from the show as well. Coupled with the 2008 withdrawal of Porsche and Isuzu's departure in 2006, this now means seven brands have abandoned stands at the Detroit show over the past three years.

Though automakers have previously expressed their dismay with the limited space available at Detroit's Cobo Hall, the driving factor for all these brands is a lack of sales. Even outside of the current economic climate, each brand has struggled to succeed in both Michigan and throughout the Midwest (presently, there are only ten Suzuki dealers in Michigan).

We don't, however, expect their places to remain vacant during the show. We'd bet other manufacturers will expand their displays ever so slightly (as BMW did once Porsche departed), though we hear an increasing number of Chinese automakers are interested in displaying on the main show floor.

Posted in: Ferrari