Daimler, Porsche CEOs come to Shanghai show

Shanghai, April 17 (Gasgoo.com) Daimler AG will skip this year's Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan Motor Co. passed on Frankfurt, Europe's largest car extravaganza and Porsche SE will bypass Detroit. But both will be in Shanghai next week, Bloomberg reported today.

Porsche SE Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking will unveil the new Panamera sports sedan in Shanghai. Daimler's Dieter Zetsche, Volkswagen AG's Martin Winterkorn and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Katsuaki Watanabe will also be there.

A record number of automakers will attend the Auto Shanghai 2009 on April 20-28, as "a lot of foreign exhibitors can see the potential here," saying an executive of the show. China is growing to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest auto market. General Motor Corp.'s China sales surged to a record last month when its U.S. sales plunged 45%.

Over 1,500 companies are expected to attend the auto gala, the most since it started in 1985, said Wang Xia, an official with the organizer. More than 600,000 people will attend the nine-day event at the Shanghai New International EXPO Centre, he said.

However, General Motors' new Chief Executive Fritz Henderson has made a last-minute decision to cancel his trip to next week's Shanghai auto show, Reuters cited a spokesman saying earlier today, who didn't elaborate.