GM, Chrysler won't be at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show

The Tokyo Motor Show is held every other year, with the last show in 2009 meeting mixed responses from non-domestic automakers and as the November 2010 deadline came and went for the 2011 show, none of the Detroit automakers had confirmed that they were coming this year. According to the folks at Automotive News, General Motors and Chrysler will definitely not attend and things seem questionable as to whether the blue oval gang will be making an appearance, although the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (the group responsible for managing the event) has stated that most of the major European automakers will be at the show in December.

General Motors, Chrysler and Ford are fairly unsuccessful in the super-competitive market comprised predominantly of sub-compact models. General Motors last attended the show in 2007 and spent “millions of dollars” for their miniscule 5-car display but to get an idea of how low Japanese sales are, consider the fact that GMs two biggest brands in Japan are Cadillac and Chevrolet and they only sold around 2,000 vehicles there in 2010. Ford was only slightly better, selling just 3,047 vehicles in Japan throughout 2010 – Ford sold almost double that in the US market EACH DAY last month.

The JAMA plans to announce the final lineup in April so Ford Motor Company has some time if they decide to make an appearance but with the Chinese market dwarfing the Japanese market, the Asia-Pacific divisions of the Big 3 are likely to turn their attention elsewhere later this year when the rest of the automakers head to Tokyo.

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