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CHICAGO -- Porsche AG showed its 2008 Cayenne GTS SUV for the first time in North America at the Chicago Auto Show on Thursday, just a couple weeks after the German automaker was a no-show in Detroit.

In unveiling the latest Cayenne model, Porsche described the GTS as the best-performing on-road SUV in the market. While the new version gives up some of the standard Cayenne's off-road capabilities, a 405-horsepower V-8 engine and lower-riding sport suspension make the SUV nearly track worthy, officials said.

But the unveiling seemed to be as much about Chicago as the Cayenne. Company officials talked about how Chicago is a strong market for the automaker. Chicago is the sports carmaker's fifth largest market, and half of its vehicles sold here are Cayennes.


Underscoring the importance of the Chicago show, Porsche officials boasted that the company's regional headquarters, a finance arm and its primary advertising firm are all based in the area.

Afterward, Peter Schwarzenbauer, president and CEO Porsche Cars North America, said Chicago makes more sense than Detroit as a showcase because Porsche sells two-and-a-half times as many cars in the Windy City. Porsche announced its plans to pull out of the Detroit show last June, citing its efforts to focus on areas where it had more customers.

He noted, too, that the show in Detroit is expensive and "logistically difficult" because of Cobo Center's facility issues. Cobo has only 17 loading docks, which hinders access and means it takes longer to build exhibits, a significant issue for automakers. McCormick has dozens of loading docks available on multiple levels.

"We would consider coming back to Detroit, but we have no plans to do so immediately," Schwarzenbauer said. "It's purely a business decision. We want to be where our buyers are -- in the five or six biggest markets -- like Chicago and Miami."

Throughout the Chicago show, organizers touted themselves as the largest auto show in the country and they took thinly veiled shots at Detroit. There was mention that the Motor City lacks a show-sponsored breakfast for the media. On the back of press passes, the show's organizers printed: "No matter what anyone says, size really does matter."

While acknowledging the aging Cobo has issues, industry watchers who attended both the Detroit and Chicago shows said Detroit remains dominant in terms of media presence and business insights.

"Chicago is about actually selling cars in a larger market," said Aaron Bragman, analyst at Global Insight Inc. "Detroit is the show where the world comes to see what North America's auto capital has to offer."

That is emphasized by Detroit's focus on future product, technology and powertrain innovations. Chicago, on the other hand, landed major consumer-focused premiers of the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Traverse.

Even while analyst Eric Merkle of IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids soaked in the plush ambience of McCormick Place, he couldn't help but notice the lack of media swarms and buzz-worthy debuts that remain a key part of the Detroit show, despite Cobo.

"Detroit is still the show," Merkle said. "I just hope they don't sit back and rely on the fact that they're Detroit."

Detroit draws more media

Comparing the two shows, Detroit attracts more media, about 6,000 journalists; Chicago draws about 2,000. Detroit, too, boasts more world premieres, 33 this year, while Chicago counted just 13.

Chicago, however, boasts more public day visitors, drawing beyond 1 million attendees. Detroit's 2008 show drew a little more than 700,000 visitors. Chicago also boasts more space. The show here uses only 1.3 million square feet of an available 2.8 million square feet of space. Cobo's 700,000-square-foot main floor is completely full.

"We have manufacturers' largest displays of anywhere in the country, and we're the only major show with room to grow," said Paul Brian, Chicago show spokesman.

The McCormick Place, Chicago's exhibition center, builds the show in about seven days, compared to a few months for Detroit. In part, because of limited space, many Detroit exhibits are created in two levels, while most of them in Chicago are a single level.

Exhibits that are more complex and take longer to build mean more costs for automakers.

Carl Galeana, senior co-chairman for the 2008 North American International Auto Show, said he understood why Porsche left Detroit and he said Cobo's capacity limitations do add costs.

In addition to pushing for a Cobo expansion, Galeana said catering to the international press keeps Detroit in a strong position.