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How has the Detroit Auto Show Changed Over the Years?
You Can bet that as the Detroit Auto Show 2011 celebrates its 104th anniversary this year, it has undergone some significant changes. Not the least of which is its position as one of the most important international shows on the calendar.
That international standing would not have been possible had the Detroit Auto Dealer Association, the managers of the event since 1907, not sought out to raise it from a regional auto show catering to the Detroit car cabal to an event that celebrates manufacturers from around the world. To understand what it has become now, it's important to know from where it started…
In the beginning
That first Detroit show boasted 33 cars from 17 exhibitors. Not just anywhere could house the hardware: it was held at Beller's Beer Garden and presumably a show-goer could enjoy a draught and a fender or two. Back then 16 car dealers got together to underwrite the event, and that was the start of the DADA.
In three short years the event outgrew the Beller's and moved to the Wayne Gardens in 1910, at the time the largest space available in the city. In '21 and '22 it was at the Morgan and Wright's Building because of the continued growth in the number of cars and exhibitors.
In the late 1950s the landscape changed again as cars from around the world started to make their way to these shores. In 1957 the show was held in the Detroit Artillery Armory and introduced such cars as Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Isetta and Porsche to a public who owed loyalties to companies like Olds and Hudson.
In 1965 the show moved to the Cobo Conference and Exhibition Center, a venue it still calls home.
From homey to international bon vivant
It was back in 1989 that the Detroit Auto Show changed its name and its focus from a home-grown regional event to a global player, changing its name to the North American International Auto Show. It was more than a name change that got people's attention: it was a change of mindset and a change of focus. The NAIAS launch coincided with the launches of two other significant events – the international introduction of the brand new Infiniti and Lexus brands from Nissan and Toyota.
Immediately, the show became a success. With the much anticipated launch of the upscale Japanese brands came an army of international journalists eager to report the news; with the global competition becoming a more relevant topic, more automakers came to Detroit to show their wares. The symbiotic cycle was complete for the Detroit Show renaissance.
Each year the number of exhibitors grow and the scramble to capture available floor space is a yearlong battle. Currently Cobo Hall has 600,000 square feet on one floor and 1 million total. Still, automakers want more. Each year some 40-plus cars make worldwide and U.S. introductions.
As the auto environment has shifted, the NAIAS has move to accommodate those changes. It was not long ago that the Chinese automakers where starting to make noise about their want to build cars for this market; they made their global debuts in Detroit.
As the world began to pay closer attention to changing modes of power systems for cars, they showed up first in Detroit. Whether it is fuel-cell technology, hydrogen, hybrid electric or full electric, the NAIAS has addressed the need as the demand required.
More so than any other auto show around the world, the DADA-managed NAIAS has risen to the demands of an ever-changing car industry, becoming an event for the times at hand.
About the Author
A lover of all things automotive, Dutch Mandel is an editor and associate publisher of the world's leading auto industry publication dedicated to auto show news and reviews.