  Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 845 Registered: 01-2005 |
Someone once challenged me on this forum to prove that the New York Times has a corporate negative stance about Detroit. Here's an example of really nasty reporting about Detroit. It's from the NYT Automotive blog and is linked from the front page of the online edition: "It may be too early to begin a death watch, but there’s more bad news ahead for Detroit’s once-invincible auto show. Porsche will not have a display at the North American International Auto Show next January. Don’t worry, Detroit, you’ll always have winter. As we’ve pointed out over the past year, the Los Angeles Auto Show moved its traditional date from early January to the week after Thanksgiving. Organizers did this to get away from a schedule conflict created when the Detroit show tried to expropriate L.A.’s date by moving its show date virtually on top of it. (It seems Detroit needed to drum up some convention business in January, when no one but polar bears is comfortable being there.) The date change for Los Angeles proved providential and timely: Providential, because post-Christmas is a lousy time for an auto show, because people have blown all their disposable income (and then some); timely, because it coincided with a decided decline in the fortunes of Detroit’s automakers. Besides, southern California is not a tough sell that time of year. Convertible, anyone? It was somewhat predictable that the always-popular Los Angeles show would do well in its new date – and it has. What has been unexpected is the degree to which the pendulum seems to be swinging away west from Detroit. Or the speed with which it seems to be swinging. The Los Angeles show had dozens of major reveals last year, and according to Barry Toepke, press officer for the show, an even greater number is scheduled for this year – Porsche among them. To make things even more difficult for Detroit organizers, the Frankfurt International Motor Show and the Tokyo Motor Show, which take place every other year, cycle back around in September and October. And both will feature major world debuts. In Tokyo, Toyota, Honda and Nissan all have highly anticipated sports cars on tap, including a near-production Lexus LF-A, most likely yet another Honda NSX concept and a production-ready Nissan GT-R. Officially, Porsche said it is bypassing Detroit because – here’s a novel concept – it doesn’t really sell cars there. In fact, Porsche sold just 290 cars in Michigan last year. Conversely, it sold 8,827 in California - roughly 30 times more. So Porsche is, in effect, telling the Detroit show: Despite your name, we don’t consider you “America’s auto show.” To us, you’re local - with only local appeal. The question is: Is this viral? Will it spread to other non-Detroit automakers, especially sports car or luxury manufacturers? Bob Austin, a spokesman for Rolls-Royce, wrote in an e-mail, “Rolls-Royce Motor Cars does not make decisions based on the lead of Porsche or any other car company. Detroit was the show where we unveiled the Phantom in January of 2003. This was the first time anyone saw a Rolls-Royce built under the BMW stewardship.” He also emphasized that the Detroit auto show is the only auto show Rolls-Royce has participated in since 2003. “We have no plans at this time to leave the Detroit show,” he wrote, but also added that Rolls-Royce is now including Los Angeles on its show roster." 30 comments so far... | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 197 Registered: 11-2006 |
Never liked Porsche much anyway....a bit of a mixed message from them in that Audi and VW are siblings with them, are they still participating? Maybe a threat to ask them not to in response to the Porsche pull out would get their attention. Besides, if they choose not to compete, fine, others will gladly fill the void both at the show and the dealerships. | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 222 Registered: 04-2006 |
I'd hardly consider Porsche a "sibling" of VW/Audi. They've had a few joint projects over the years, but they're completely independent companies. It'd be just flat-out stupid to exclude VW/Audi from the show over this. That would have far more of a negative impact on the show's perceived relevance than this single pullout by a relatively low-volume manufacturer. | ||
Gmich99 Member Username: Gmich99 Post Number: 206 Registered: 11-2005 |
Porsche owns more than 30% of V.W., which owns Audi. | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1491 Registered: 11-2003 |
That article is biased, as is just about anything NYT related and discussing detroit (Thomas Freidman anyone?) Porsche is IDIOTIC to do this. Detroit is not a "local auto show", it is the world's premier auto show. No other city and no other event is more important than Detroit. The Detroit auto show isn't about selling cars in Metro Detroit, it is about world debuts, the biggest and the best production and show car displays. All the auto companies know this. This is why Detroit gets more debuts than anyone, and not just from the Detroit 3 either. Porsche has quickly become a horribly arrogant company and to think they can walk away from Detroit and either undermine its importance or pull other automakers to do the same is pure insanity. This is a big mistake for Porsche in the automotive world, and I think someday they'll realize that. Most likely when they want to come back to Cobo only to find their space now belongs to sombody else. I'm not diminishing the importance of LA, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Geneva, New York, Chicago or Paris. They are all important auto shows. The argument about Tokyo and Frankfurt being every other year holds no water, they're ALWAYS every other year. There are enough automakers unveiling enough new production and concept models to let everyone have a slice. But ask just about anyone, and Detroit is the biggest, the best, and the most important show in the automotive world. Unless another 1/2 of the automakers pick up and leave, it isn't going anywhere or diminishing in importance. It isn't about selling cars in the Detroit market. It is about being part of the biggest autoshow on earth, about being where all your competitors are and showing them and everyone around the world you can still out-do them. A Porsche unveil in Detroit will get more press than a Porsche unveil in LA. Simple as that. NYT believes the world would be a better place without Detroit. We never hear from them when something good happens here, yet something like Porsche pulling out gets and article and fuels the fire. They can F themselves. That newspaper has long been in the shitter, and this is just more of the same. http://www.autoextremist.com/i ndex.shtml | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1171 Registered: 08-2006 |
Detroit to Southern California: "Don't worry, at least we have water" Detroit to NYT reporter: "Don't worry, at least most of us these days are not mindless corporate shills, and not likely to jump on the foreign car buyers shit gold bricks, and everyone else is a moron bandwagon." | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 2553 Registered: 12-2004 |
WTF?!? Let me get this straight. The New York Times is ripping on Detroit for our weather??? New York??? Has this idiot not noticed what the average temperature in NYC is in December or January? Even with all of the hot air coming out of Donald Trump, it's still almost identical to Detroit's. For the record, Detroit's weather is also very close to Frankfurt's, Geneva's, Chicago's and Paris' - all cities with top-tier auto shows. I think it's time for someone to revoke a couple of the NYT's Pultizers. A bias in their reporting is one thing. Stupidity like this is something that wouldn't even fly in a high school newspaper. But then again, I suppose I'm assuming that the folks at the NYT actually graduated from high school. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 981 Registered: 04-2006 |
"Has this idiot not noticed what the average temperature in NYC is in December or January?" It's not just him. The vast majority of people I have met from NYC have this perception that Detroit's weather is akin to the Arctic and that NYC's is akin to Cancun. | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 2555 Registered: 12-2004 |
I guess they don't get the Weather Channel in NYC. | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 356 Registered: 02-2006 |
What a uneducated article. Get the facts straight, LA moved because of the Detroit date pushed LA to the bottom of the shows. To the auto world, who cares if you unveil a car in New York, LA or Chicago, or in a city who has a show every two years. So go ahead and see how much press you receive when you showcase your prototype in LA! Who cares......... the New York Times? <313> | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 982 Registered: 04-2006 |
>I guess they don't get the Weather Channel in NYC. Most probably don't pay attention to it. There is a 24-hour news channel here that is all NYC except for a 30-second blurb about "the world outside of New York" which is usually just a story about Chicago, lol. | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1177 Registered: 08-2006 |
And to the Ball less wonders who run porsche. Other European car makers arrogantly pulled out of Detroit Auto show too, they are Peugot, Renault, Citroen, and Fiat. Where are they now? | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 358 Registered: 02-2006 |
^^^^too funny^^^^ <313> | ||
Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city Post Number: 294 Registered: 04-2006 |
I think in order for others to take us seriously, we need to take ourselves seriously. I know L. Brooks like to dance, but he needs to level with reality a bit, swollow a dose of pride and make the Cobo expansion happen. Oakland County IS Detroit and Detroit IS Oakland County. The two will NEVER exist separately, so instead of wasting everyone's time, our political leaders need to get their acts together and answer the call of every single issue that comes before Detroit that says, "This is precisely what you do and what you need in order to advance your regional community into the future's global economy". Throwing a little party, equipt with hoola skirts and the like on Mackinac Island reduces the credibility of what the leaderships role is here when they come back to work and nothing has changed. Nooo...There's no emergency to address when dialogue of taking the NAIAS to Chicago. We, as SE MI leadership are use to that kind of negative nonsense. It never comes true. Please. |
