File this under “Uh-oh!”.
In another worrying sign, and hot on the the heals of Suzuki, Nissan has just announced it is pulling out of the North American International Auto show in Detroit. not only that, they’re also pulling out of the Chicago show too. So that now gives us a list of Porsche, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce, and Nissan that aren’t interested in showing at Detroit.
What none of these car companies, or journalists have been able to explain is: Why? Why pull out of the biggest car show in the biggest car market in the world?
Some companies have simply scaled back and reprioritized things; a lot of them shuffled big debuts off to the Los Angeles show, but that’s only a half-answer at best.
Frankly, I don’t have a handle on it. It’s not like Detroit is going to disappear. Even in some ultra-free market/Stephen Colbert nightmare, the Earth isn’t going to open up and swallow Detroit whole. Say things get as bad as they could. By this time tomorrow, GM, Ford & Chrysler have completely shut down operations and fired everybody. Sure, huge economic catastrophe, but the city, and the workers and the factories will still be there. Something would be done with them, it’s not like Detroit (and Lansing and Flint et al) would just dry up and blow away like some mining boom down in Nevada, circa 1892.
So, Porsche, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce, and Nissan, what gives?
Source: AutoBlog
Obviously the author of this article has not been to Flint recently because that is just what has happened. The city has practically become a ghost town and Detroit isn’t much better. My guess is that the other automakers DO expect Detroit to turn into dust because it’s almost there already. I live here and people are genuinely worried. This may indeed be the end of Michigan as the American automotive capitol.