General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will for the third consecutive time; be sitting out the Tokyo Motor Show. Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association’s vice chairman, Yoshiyasu Nao, has confirmed that all three Detroit automakers declined invitations to this year’s 43rd Tokyo Motor Show, which is set to open in the month of November. This is third decline over the last three events, spanning nearly six years.
“We asked them to participate and truly wanted them to, but unfortunately they declined,” Nao said. “It’s very regrettable,” Nao concluded. The Detroit automakers first skipped the Tokyo Motor Show in 2009 citing the global financial crisis as the reason. The Tokyo Motor show is held once every two year, and once again in 2011 the Detroit three collectively decided not to make the trip to Tokyo, citing limited sales in the region.
As a reference, Chrysler’s Jeep brand was the most popular American car brand in Japan, racking up 4 979 sales last year. In 2012 Ford sold 3 952 vehicles in Japan, while Chevrolet only managed 1 477 deliveries. We’re not surprised American brands are so uncompetitive in Japan. They clearly aren’t showing enough commitment to the region.
