TOKYO — The 2009 Tokyo Auto Show may be yet another victim of the troubled economic times. Automotive News late Monday said the prestigious Asian show may be canceled.

Inside Line has learned that more than a dozen exhibitors have pulled out of the show already. This information came from a highly placed source at one automaker who asked to remain unnamed. The deadline for automakers to sign up for the Tokyo show was late last year.

"The debate is driven in part by fewer non-Japanese automakers' having signed up to take part in the October show amid the global financial crisis," said Automotive News. "But some Japanese exhibitors also are proposing that the show be canceled this year."

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association said it will decide whether or not to cancel the show by early next month.

The show is slated to take place October 23 to November 8. If the show is not held, the next Tokyo show would take place in 2011.

The news about the Tokyo auto show's uncertain fate comes as media days at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show come to a close this week. The stripped-down Detroit auto show has been described in bleak terms by such media outlets as Agence France-Presse and Reuters, who used words such as "tense" and "subdued." A number of automakers, including Nissan and Suzuki, dropped out of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and the automakers who are attending are going light on the glitz and glamour.

Inside Line says: The global financial crisis is definitely having a major effect on how auto shows are conducted and may even delay one of the major events of the year. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent