Just over three weeks ahead of the press days for the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show, Hyundai has announced it is dropping out. This means that, save for Lotus and Alpina, showgoers will see cars from only Asian domestic brands.

Automotive News quoted Toyokazu Ishida, manager of international exhibitions for the Asian Automotive Manufacturers Association (JAMA), as saying that the phone call to cancel came on Friday afternoon. JAMA said that Hyundai would be stuck with $122,000 in nonrefundable fees for its 4,300-square-foot exhibit space, but of course, that's nothing compared to the millions it would have cost Hyundai to transport cars, set them up and staff the space during the show.

Automotive News (sub.req)