Those of you who have followed my CAR CHAT posts over the years know that I have written much about how the Detroit area is dying, how the Detroit North American International Auto Show is vastly overrated and overhyped, and how the tremendous growth of both the SoCal/LA and Washington/Baltimore regions in auto sales and money spent on new vehicles (now first and second in the country) have now overshadowed Detroit as the country's new twin auto capitals. The D.C. area sells six times the number of new vehicles that the Detroit area does......the SoCal/L.A. area ten times as much. So....in another sign that Detroit is becoming a has-been, VW is announcing the move of its North American corporate headquarters from Detroit to near Dulles Airport in the D.C. VA suburbs...right in my backyard. I can drive there in 15 minutes or so when the endless local gridlock here isn't too bad.......and some of the cars I review are at dealerships in that neighborhood.

Lincoln-Mercury Headquarters has already left Detroit....they are in Irvine, CA. Porsche recently also announced plans to leave the Detroit area.....they will not have a display at next January's Detroit Show. Nissan Headquarters left Detroit years ago for SoCal.....and are now relocating again to TN to be nearer their Smyrna, TN and Canton, MS plants.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/vw-to-move-north-american-headquarters.html