Tokyo Motor Show may be canceled this year

Crain News Service

Tokyo) -- The Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association is debating whether to cancel the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, a JAMA executive said today.

The debate is driven in part by fewer non-Japanese auto makers' having signed up to take part in the October show amid the global financial crisis. But some Japanese exhibitors also are proposing that the show be canceled this year.

“A couple companies are not in favor of organizing the show under these conditions, but that is not JAMA's opinion,” Toshihiro Iwatake, JAMA's executive director and secretary general, told Automotive News, a sister publication of Tire Business.

The 41st annual Tokyo Motor Show is scheduled to take place Oct. 23-Nov. 8. The theme is “Fun driving for us, eco driving for earth.”

A decision on whether to cancel the show will be made by early next month, he said.

If the show were canceled, the next Tokyo show would take place in 2011, Mr. Iwatake said, citing scheduling agreements with other top-tier auto shows.

Mr. Iwatake said that he personally favors going ahead with the show.

“We think the motor show is a symbol of industrial prosperity,” he said. “We have to show that our industry is healthy.”

He also said that he believes it is better to have a good, small show than no show at all. But he said that some JAMA members had expressed a view that a smaller show would reflect badly on the industry.

Moreover, he said that if the Tokyo show were cancelled, “The Americans and Europeans will say, 'Oh, Japan is sinking and the Chinese are up.'"

The deadline for auto makers to sign up for the Tokyo show was late last year. Some of “the usual manufacturers” had not registered by the deadline, Mr. Iwatake said. He said that all of the German auto makers and all of the Japanese members of JAMA had registered. He would not say whether the Detroit 3 auto makers were among those who had not registered.

He said that late registrants would be welcomed.

A number of non-American auto makers dropped out of the Detroit auto show under way this week.

The no-shows include Nissan Motor Co., Suzuki Motor Corp., Porsche AG, Rolls Royce and Land Rover. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. cancelled its corporate presence, but local Mitsubishi dealers put together an exhibit in the auto maker's place.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show, a Japanese industry source said, “The question is, will one of the Japanese Big 3 blink?” He implied that if Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. or Nissan were to pull out of the Tokyo show, that could doom the 2009 event.

But JAMA's Mr. Iwatake insisted that if JAMA and the show organizers decide to go ahead with the 2009 show, all JAMA members would participate.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)