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Another fantasy is revisited in Detroit this month with the opening of the North American International Auto Show displaying the pathetic decline of the American auto industry. Similar to the unholy alliance between the medical community and Big Pharma plus the FDA, there is the auto industry and Big Oil and the requisite government agencies, politicians and lobbyists. The United States was given a big wake up call regarding energy and oil shortages 30 years ago and the cavalier attitude of those not interested in noticing generated terms like tree hugger and belittled initial attempts to develop alternative energy sources. And now Detroit is promoting electric cars. That would simply prove how bleak the future looks in the motor city. In addition, the marketing strategies of the past, the public’s insatiable appetite for gas guzzling muscle machines and status symbols and the auto industry caving to the demands of once powerful labor union is responsible to the fix they are in now.

All of that plus getting in bed with the competition over the last 20 or 30 years will surely produce little or no sympathy from the public over the auto industry’s plight. The CEO of GM baking a cake and the claim of a car that gets 640 miles per tank is too stupid and too late to salvage an industry too ignorant, too lazy or too greedy to adjust to market forces or the reality of energy developments and difficulties. It must look incredibly easy to Toyota as they close in on becoming the top dog. This sad saga applies to more than the American auto industry. Change is necessary but won’t happen soon enough or solve the myriad problems allowed to continue within American business. The once dominant force in the world had better wake up. Simlar to what Yamamoto said, the sleeping giant had better wake up.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

President George W. Bush meets with, from left, William Clay Ford Jr., Chairman & CEO of
Ford Motor Company; Dieter Zetsche, President & CEO of Chrysler Group; and Richard
Wagoner, President & CEO of General Motors Corp., at the Ford Community and
Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2003.
White House photo by Tina Hager

Bush: Automakers Face ‘Tough Choices’

Meeting in the Oval Office, President Bush told top executives of
Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler he recognizes they
have “tough choices” in a difficult global environment and
promised a continuing dialogue with the industry.

Do Toyota, Honda and others have the same “tough choices” to
deal with or is this only a problem for American and almost
American clones? Why were the various “partnerships” started
about 25 years ago between American and foreign car makers?
Was it a noble experiment to revolutionize the global market or
an economical entrance to the American market for some and a
bailout of sorts for mismanaged or incompetent manufacturers
in the U.S.? Why would you invite your competition into your
home territory? How bad did you need the engineering to sell
out your company for short term profits? Was it just easier to
cave into union demands only to nearly go bankrupt a couple of
decades later? Maybe the US starts outsourcing entire industries
and the forward thinking morons of the recent past get vindicated
for their rash strategy that we will become a service only economy.
Only to again be impaled in public debate for the self-fulfilling
prophecy.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com