TOKYO — South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday it's skipping the Tokyo Motor Show, joining a string of foreign automakers that have decided to miss one of Asia's major auto shows.

Hyundai's decision comes three weeks before the biennial event opens to the media Oct. 21. The show opens to the public three days later. The organizers had already included Hyundai in a diagram of the booths.

The number of companies skipping the event is unprecedented for the show and underlines the industry's slump.

U.S. automakers such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. said as early as February they weren't exhibiting at the show because of economic woes. By May, almost all foreign automakers had made a similar decision to save money, including German automakers Volkswagen and BMW, which had attended the previous Tokyo show in 2007.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association announced the final list of participants Tuesday. The only foreigners were Group Lotus, the British maker of sports cars owned by Malaysian automaker Proton, and Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen, Germans who are a partner with BMW.