Most Major Automakers Passing Up 2009's Tokyo Motor Show

In what will be very disappointing to those who are awaiting a great Tokyo Motor Show next month, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) has announced that most of the major automakers have decided to pass up this year's show. According to JAMA chairman, Satoshi Aoki, only 122 exhibitors have committed to the exhibition, compared to 241 in 2007. As a result, JAMA could be facing losses estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Japanese automakers including Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki and Daihatsu are attending the show, along with higher-end players like Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus, Porsche and Alpina. The cash-strapped Detroit Big Three, as well as Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Volvo and Renault, are confirmed absentees, however.

To make things worse, Hyundai, the final major non-Japanese automaker, has just confirmed their absence. Although no official explanation was given, it is more than clear that the Korean automaker, like its American and European counterparts, is bearing the full brunt of the financial crisis. Tough times like this require cost-cutting, and the Tokyo Motor Show is apparently deemed a necessary sacrifice.

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.