Is The Car Show Doomed To Failure?

Here’s a strange bit of news for you–turns out that this year’s Tokyo Motor Show will occupy half the floor space of last year’s.

This by itself might not mean so much, but it joins up with some other, similar news.  The Tokyo Motor Show will only feature Japanese automaker cars.  Seems everyone else is neck-deep in pleading poverty.  The Japanese car makers, meanwhile, wouldn’t go to the Frankfurt show so they’d have something new to exhibit at the Tokyo Motor Show.

A litany of economic horrors followed:  the annual North America International Auto Show (also known as the Detroit Auto Show), lost GM. The New York International Auto Show was less than half its previous size. Italy’s Bologna Motor Show is on the brink of collapse.

Worldwide, car shows are slumping, and facing outright extinction.  In fact, it may be that, someday, car shows will never be seen again.  Maybe they’ll become smaller, regional shows.  Or maybe they’ll go strictly online.  But no alternative meausre bodes well for things as a whole.