How many shows are there in the North American market? Perhaps there are too many and manufacturers want to cut down on costs to focus on doing a really good job in one. People (well, those who matter) don't need to see the same cars twice. That's why I was talking about the press earlier - the press will only need to see the new cars, particularly concepts, once. I'm not sure a motor show is a major sales event.

In Australia, the main ones are Sydney and Melbourne. Key marques pulled out of Sydney to focus on Melbourne because they didn't feel it was necessary to have attend two shows every year. I think Paris and Frankfurt have a good cooperative plan going with alternating hosting years.

There are four main US Auto Shows. Detroit (NAIAS), Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. But the Detroit show and the LA show are the biggest ones. NY and Chicago shows usually have domestic premiers and such. The cities are far enough from each other to warrant their existence.

Now the main problem, as I saw it, was that the LA show and NAIAS were dangerously close to each other couple of years ago. (quite literally happening at the same time) I thought that was bad for LA since Detroit would get the priority for most manufacturers. And it was true. But LA decided to move its show ahead by a month, which meant that LA was starting to get more important premiers. The shows are still too close, and it means the manufacturer will have to decide on which of the shows will be more profitable for them.

Hmmmm. I wonder what Ferrari will do to the LA show. They have a whole wing in the convention center to themselves.

Bah. GM and Volkswagen pulled cars out of the LA show for Detroit. Boo.

^I think they mean the 2009 show...

I guess whether location or date is the problem, alternating hosting years is a good plan. Even in the largest market in the world, there are still problems of manufacturers selecting only one show.

Oh no. That would be silly. Each show still command hundreds of thousands of visitors. And it maybe feasible for a Parisian to travel to London or Geneva for their auto show fix, there is almost no way anyone in LA would ever want to travel all the way to Detroit for a show. I mean, we need our auto show coverage, or we'll go crazy. :mrgreen:

It would be simpler if they just played around with the time table.

Yes, that's true. I know I'd hate for Sydney to lose our annual show. But, manufacturers are also involved in this, and they have clearly shown their hand. Playing around with the timetable may necessitate alternating years, although moving Detroit to somewhere around spring or summer might work.

Mitsubishi pulled out. Don't expect to see Land Rover, Suzuki, and Porsche either.

Porsche pulled out in 2008, and were never expected back... Mitsubishi's stand was cheap carpet, poorly painted walls, and bright yellow bits on the walls. Never expect much out of them. They did pull the stops (for them anyway) when they brought the Evo VIII here for the first time.

Also, Nissan pulled out....

Jalopnik's own NAIAS floor plan.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...-Show-Fake.jpg

What I made for fun.
http://images.icanhascheezburger.com...2652991635.jpg