AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Stellantis, the parent company for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram, says it will no longer be at the Chicago Auto Show.
The show is set to take place February 10-19th at McCormick Place.
The automaker says they are revising their marketing strategy. Stellantis says it will also re-evaluate its participation in future auto shows on a case-by-case basis.
The automaker issued the following statement:
With a focus on preserving business fundamentals to mitigate the impact of a challenging U.S. automotive market, Stellantis is working to optimize its marketing strategy as it relates to auto shows.
To be as efficient as possible in our media spend, we are evaluating participation in auto shows on a case-by-case basis, while prioritizing opportunities for consumers to experience our vehicles first-hand.
Stellantis remains committed to building products customers love, ensuring freedom of mobility for all, and becoming second to none in value creation for its employees and all other stakeholders as outlined in the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan.
Rick Deneau
Stellantis Spokesperson
Auto analysts say there are likely a few factors that brought Stellantis to this decision.
"There’s a lot of pressure on budgets throughout the auto industry. The investment in EVs is part of it, raw materials prices have gone up, prices that suppliers are charging, the UAW strike for the Detroit Three has greatly increased their costs. So there’s just a lot of pressure all the way around," said John McElroy with Autoline TV.
McElroy says the number one reason is likely that the automakers are not seeing a big return on investment when participating in the auto shows.
"Auto shows are no longer the media extravaganza that they were a decade ago. Automakers would spend millions of dollars at each and every auto show because they had media from literally all over the country, many cases from all over the world. Those days are gone," said McElroy. "Automakers are unlikely to go back to auto shows. They may pick one here or there or something like that if they’ve got something that they really want to get in front of the public. Maybe they go back to a consumer electronic shows."
Car enthusiasts say they're hopeful there's still a bright future for auto shows in Detroit.
Anthony Cacaj is a partner at Motor City Car Club, a garage in Detroit where car lovers can socialize and work on their vehicles.
"Our biggest goal here was to have a place in the city, the motor city, for people who loved cars, wanted to be around cars, other enthusiasts to have that place to do it," said Cacaj. "This used to be a Ford dealership, completely abandoned in the 80s, no windows, just tires and everything, receipts from the 60s with cars that were like 4 grand."
Cacaj says as someone who has loved cars since a young age, he of course attended nearly every auto show in Detroit since he could walk. Cacaj's colleague, Colton Hirst, says it was the same for him.
"I’ve always had Hot Wheels when I was little and even like my dad, he started noticing when I was 10/11 that I started naming cars when they were passing by," said Hirst.
The two say they were surprised to hear that Stellantis would be pulling out of the upcoming auto show and possibly missing from future shows.
"It’s just kind of unfortunate because I like all of the Big Three and it’s like that’s kind of pulling away from the engagement with the community," said Hirst. "If you go and only see Chevy and Ford, you’re missing out on Dodge. You’re missing out on those die-hard MOPAR guys. With me personally owning one, I’d like to see what Dodge is coming out with and what Dodge has new to offer."
They say it feels like a missed opportunity to engage with potential customers.
"I think with new vehicles and the shift with Dodge, for example, to (electric vehicles), I feel like that’s a huge area of opportunity for them to showcase this and showcase this change," said Cacaj. "The charger, the challenger all these iconic vehicles just stopped production moving into this EV space. So, I feel like this is a pivotal point for them to start getting engagement on that side. So, hearing that they’re pulling out is kind of surprising."
It's unclear what the automaker's plans are for the Detroit Auto Show scheduled for September 2024.
7 Action News reached out to General Motors which said it has made no changes and plans to be at the Chicago auto show. We also reached out to Ford and the organization that runs the Detroit auto show, however no one was immediately available for comment.
