The Detroit North American International Auto Show, which usually runs from mid-to-late January each year, is traditionally the site of most truly new models and concept cars....the vehicles that have never been publically displayed before anywhere else. This, of course, harkens back to the days when Detroit and southeastern Michigan was truly the center of the American auto industry. Today, the circumstances are far different than 30-35 years ago....some corporate headquarters have moved, many companies have merged or left the American market, other new ones have been born, and many assembly plants have been built in other parts of the country....and overseas. Plants in the Detroit area, like in much of the Great Lakes area, are either closed or in danger of closing. The entire auto industry has gone global...even Chrysler is owned by German M-B. Ford and GM, of course, own many European compaines.
Here in America, both Southern California and the Washington, D.C area have far overtaken the Detroit area as automotive centers. Southern California is the largest auto market in the country, sells by far the most new vehicles, has the densest and heaviest traffic, has some auto corporate headquarters, and generally sets the stage for new automotive trends.
The Washington D.C. area (my area) is the country's second-largest new vehicle market (this area sells SIX TIMES the number of new cars the Detroit area does). has the second-worst traffic (yes, worse than NYC) , has the Government agencies here that influence auto regulations (EPA, NHTSA, DOT, Center for Auto Safety, etc...) and, like Southern California, has an extremely high per-capita income.
Yet....it is the same stuff every January. Virtually all of the auto press, the new intros, the public appearances by the CEO's, the international teams, the enthusiast magazines like Car and Driver, Road and Track, etc..... inevitably converge on the Detroit area for the huge show there. Auto companies feel .....and I have heard this from the company reps time and time again....think that they HAVE to show off everything new at the Detroit show FIRST just because they have ALWAYS done so,. Never mind the fact that as an automotive center Detroit is living in the past...the WAY past.
How do you all feel? Do you agree with me that is LONG past time to start spreading more of the intros and press coverage out among other shows....especially in the Los Angeles area and the Washington, DC area, where the REAL action is instead of a dying Rust-Belt city like Detroit ?
( I mean no insult to the people who still live in the Deoroit area...don't take my comment the wrong way, but I'm just trying to make a point ) ....Detroit, as an auto center, is long past its prime, and the Detroit Show symbolizes a past there that no longer exists. So, in my opinion, it is time for a CHANGE.