Nissan Decides to Join in Chicago Show
Nissan made waves when it announced it would pull out of both January's Detroit auto show and February's Chicago show. Now, however, the automaker has decided it will staff a booth and display vehicles in Chicago after all.
Although the economic downturn and catastrophic sales figures led Nissan to withdraw from the two shows, pressure from dealers has apparently drawn it back to at least one of those. Nissan has already paid for the floor space in Chicago, so a group of dealers have agreed to supply staff for the show if Nissan supplies the cars.
According to Alan J. Buddendeck, Nissan's VP for communications, the decision to go to Chicago but stay out of Detroit had more to do with the style of the shows than anything else. He cited Chicago as being a show geared toward consumers, while Detroit's focus is the industry.
Nissan Back in at Chicago Show (Ward's Auto)
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Even though the economy sucks, this is a "super" wise move. Nissan/Infiniti has revamped most of their line this year and this will be the only way to get some momentum when the market rebounds "maybe" late next year. And in such a huge market like Chicago. Waiting to see the new 370Z and GT-R on the floor (Maxima,too) for me is like being kid waiting to see Santa Claus at the mall...
I still see that the NAIAS website showing Nissan and Infiniti are on the exhibitor's list.
Lets see, Nissian was foolish enough to already pay for space but not use it. I personally can't believe that Nissian could be so foolish. If I was a dealer I would happily shift some of my staff from dealership to convention floor. We all know their is very little dealer traffic right now.
Hmm, I wonder if me getting a $2 discount if I purchased my ticket(s) in advance (last month) for an upcoming auto show have anything to do with car companies like Nissan opting out if they anticipated a low turn out or slow sales year?
According to all the Nissan mailers and e-mail newsletters we were supposed to have little cube cars and Hybrids across the line up in dealers by the Detroit show.
Maybe they were a bit embarassed to show their faces to the loyal fans. Especially after the public relations nightmare of the GT-R and how much they are going to stand behind their product.
BTW, Bring back the 4cyl 5 speed Frontier king cab truck (and/or Extera). I'm ready for another one.