Nissan returns to Chicago Auto Show

It's the season for changes then changing back to how it was before, so Nissan is joning the festivities by announcing (on Thanksgiving, no less) that it will indeed attend the Chicago Auto Show.

Nissan had previously stated that because of financial difficulties, it was withdrawing its corporate prescence from both the Detroit and Chicago shows. The Detroit decision stands, but Nisssan says that Chicago is back on.

Chicago area Nissan/Infiniti dealers most likely responded quite strongly the original decision as Nissan's absense from the show would not be a consumer confidence builder for the brand. So in a decision with the dealers, Nissan will provide cars (and certainly all of the exhibit materials which have already been bought and paid for) while the area Nissan dealers will staff the exhibit.

The decision was based largely on Nissan's already having purchased the floorspace at the show venue, and certainly a large rectangle of bare concrete floor of the McCormick Center would be corporately embarrassing. Nissan has previously said that non-attendance was based on having already made all of its new model introductions at the Los Angeles Auto Show, even though most Chicago area car buyers did not attend the California show.

Reports on Nissan's attendance at the Chicago Auto Show have not indicated whether Nissan or the dealers will pay for delivering and setting up the exhibits. Expenses for show setup are notoriously high, with anecdotal reports of union electricians being required to plug in any electrical device.