Detroit Auto Show is ‘as good as it gets’ for PR pros

Amid onslaught of negativity lies plenty of opportunity for positive press

There are no Jeeps crashing through the glass at Cobo Hall, no cattle charging down Washington Avenue to introduce the Dodge Ram and no all-night extravagant media parties.

There are also no representatives from Nissan, Suzuki, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover or Rolls-Royce.

Indeed, after a dismal year for the auto industry, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which opened to the public Saturday, is stripped of many of its usual participants—and almost completely of its traditional glitz and pomp.

But although industry analysts aren’t optimistic about the prospects for 2009 either—many predicting annual sales nearly $6 million below 2007 levels (and just last month, the Bush administration approved $17.4 billion in short-term loans to help Chrysler and GM avoid bankruptcy)—this year’s auto show does have one thing going for it: There are (forgive us) carloads of opportunity for PR practitioners.