Detroit Out – Denmark and Tel Aviv In? December 11, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, development, economics, green living, politics, public transporation, renewable energy.Tags: Better Place, big 3, car companies, denmark, Detroit, detroit business, Electric cars, future, new car models, new york times, Palo Alto, tel aviv, vision
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Thomas Friedman strikes again. He wrote a fantastic op-ed in NYT, as he tends to do, about a possible future for the auto industry. Forward thinkers unite. (Even Huffington is picking it up, that’s how awesome he is.)
“…someone in the mobility business in Denmark and Tel Aviv is already developing a real-world alternative to Detroit’s business model.”
Someone was bound to do it.
Check out Better Place, from Palo Alto, California, they’re building an electric car network and it’s gonna happen in Hawaii first. (I already wrote about how amazing Hawaii is looking about now with Gov Lingle’s green energy collective negotiating strategy for change…)
All I have to say to all the depressed, scared, oh woah is me Midwesterners- stop freaking out and get involved. Change gonna come. We all hope for sooner rather than later. If you don’t have the Vision to see, talk to someone who does. We’ll bat away all of your excuses and nay saying. (I practiced over Thanksgiving, I’m really good at it.) There are better ways of doing everything and while you might be too old to switch gears, we have a whole energized movement of younger, capable individuals who are ready and willing to collectively step to the plate and figure all this crap out. The best thing you can do, Bush et all, is get out of our way and let us get to work. It’ll happen sooner and more quickly thank you think.
Don’t bail out the dinosaurs. Give 34 great ideas a billion dollars each. Let America decide.
Big 3 – next? December 9, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, development, politics, public transporation.Tags: big 3, car, commute, congressional hearing, Crysler, Detroit, Ford, GM, mpg, Wagoner
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Do you know how close I was to railing against the Big 3 AGAIN for their STUPID stunt? Why on earth would you DRIVE to DC in the best hybrid models you’ve got in your arsenal if they only get 60% of the MPG that the Toyota Prius gets on average? For the record, Robert Nardelli drove the Aspen Hybrid SUV, 22 mpg highway/20 city, Ricky Wagoner drove the Malibu Hybrid which clocked in a barely respectable 24 mpg highway/ 26 city, and Alan Mulally drove the Escape Hybrid with 31 mpg highway/34 city. What’s WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE??? The Prius gets FORTY FIVE (45) mpg AVERAGE. Being this frustrated is exhausting- especially in the wake of Detroit people who cry about legacy and family and all the soft reasons to keep the big three going… Someone else needs to remind them that this is business, not personal. I’ve tried, no one listens to me. I may not be a physicist, mathematician or stats person but those number are pretty easy to interpret. Detroit cars= bad. Pathetic showing for America…
However, GM has put out an ad apologising to everyone for sucking so much. Yes, that’s right, a corporate mea culpa for being greedy and not looking out for the needs of the consumer and allowing their giant massive corporate structures to be removed from a functional course which, as we all are aware, could spell disaster for an entire region of the United States.
Thier ad made me feel a little better. They admit that I’m both right and not out of line for mentioning that fact.
So now what?
Big 3- 3rd Option December 4, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, development, economics, education, family, politics.Tags: bailout, bankruptcy, big 3, brazil, Detroit, Gettelfinger, Gore, Hummer, Mitch Album, mumbai, West Wing
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This is what happens when you get sucked into West Wing drama, the TV show, sixth season, just as Santos gains momentum and wins California. TV prewrites history, but the New York Times already did a piece on that.
So I’ve been facebooking all the best articles regarding the Big Three, keeping track of public opinion, intelligent opinion (obvious not the same thing) and any kind of compromises or possible SOLUTIONS that are floating through cyberspace. One guess at which of the three is LACKING BIGTIME.
Here are a brief rundown on people’s thinking:
My source inside the GM finance department is preparing for the congressional hearing that has to take place before GM gets any money. My sister and Mitch Album cry of double standards and hypocrisy. I totally disagree. When a company is able to downsize by 30% and keep up functioning, that company is undeserving of extra cash. Most companies don’t have 30% worth of wiggle room. Second, any company that makes BAD products should be washed out by the market. As I mentioned before, there is absolutely NO REASON why anyone should be advertising H3s (Hummers) in Detroit. I realize gas has returned to cheap prices (holy shit by the way) but way to miss the giant flaming letters written on the wall. Don’t you remember like 3 months ago when gas cost $4.55 a gallon? I do! I’m poor! That was DIFFICULT to say the least. There’s no fucking way I’m buying a Hummer. I refuse to buy a new car that has fewer MPG than the Prius. I’m definitely not the only one. The first company to make a cheap new renewable car wins. If it’s not an American car, fuck you. I’m a savvy consumer. I’m not going to Think Ford First if Ford doesn’t deserve it. And don’t tell me the market changed too rapidly to keep up. That’s the easiest excuse in the book to shoot down. Also, we all know gas prices are going to shoot up again- the world is running out. Maybe not today or tomorrow but soon. And for the rest of our lives. So let’s deal. Now.
Sir Gore said it best when asked about the bailout: GORE: “Whatever assistance might be forthcoming should be focused on speeding the changes that are absolutely essential to ensure that our companies are competitive in the global marketplace. “ Isn’t that what I just said?
A retired GM engineer attempted to impress me with the cross configuration and high technology of a plant. I’m not sure if he was trying to detail how difficult it would be to restructure or not. But I found an article that proved him wrong, if in fact that was his aim. GM restructured plants to comply with Brazilian demands for clean engines. Here, read about it, it’s obviously possible.
And finally, the fiscal Conservatives want the Big Three to declare bankruptcy so that they can destroy all of their contractual obligations and start again. Detroit fears the utter collapse of their entire region and a depression as most if not all of the region is in one way or another connected to the auto industry. But maybe that is the best option. We’ll just have to see who writes intelligently about the bankruptcy possibility and I’ll put it up. So far it’s been mentioned to me by an ultra Conservative blogger, but before I go into details I want something with clout.
In conclusion, Detroit, stop whining and change. If you need someone to offer some positive assistance to help usher in a new era, which HAS TO HAPPEN ANYWAY, I have no problem deflecting all of your negativity and helping you begin to think in a positive and progressive way. This could be the best thing that could happen to the auto industry. Tap into all of your talent and turn the oil tanker around. I know it’ll take 30 or so miles to just slow down but if you have the will, you can make a speedboat turn to the better, greener future, save your own ass, create a product that Americans’ll buy and help out the planet.
Do you know how fast the entire world heard about the Mumbai terrorist attacks? I heard it on Twitter and watched it on a live feed at the same time from my bed. That’s pretty instantanious. Obviously, we can make the information needed to do the deed fly around the world pretty fast. We can do anything we put our minds to. I heard the gunshot on November 4th. Go.
PS- Gettelfinger is too old to properly negotiate. Get some new blood in the room. Seriously. He should retire and let the changes get figured out by my generation. We have the energy to do something radical. He’s just plain old and stuck in his ways. One hundred dollar bet he has no idea what facebook is.
Detroit Bailout (shhh- Loan) November 28, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, development, economics, politics.Tags: auto industry, bailout, big 3, detroit economics, hummers, jobs
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Home sweet home- a dark, cold, gloomy sky hover over the heads of scared, depressed Detroiters.
I feel like I’ve entered a new galaxy. People think differently here, it smells of desperation.
The ENTIRE greater Detroit area is collectively begging for a Big 3 Bailout package, giant assistance from the government. Everyone’s job is at stake. My mom is a french teacher, my dad designs environmental cleanup projects for the city. He’s safe until the new budget in September. My mom is contracted for the year. They’re both freaking out.
These big companies rely on credit from a functional banking system in order to fulfill their budgetary needs. As a highly regulated industry based on fulfilling contractual obligations, their current budget, with access to credit, everything would run smoothly until 2010 when their contracts would go up for renewal. The crunch has royally screwed them over.
On the other hand, ANYONE in the market for a new car won’t be settling for anything less than Prius-sized MPG. Or else they’ll buy a used car and just make it work. So obviously, ADVERTISING NEW HUMMERS for sale is NOT an acceptable expenditure… I would go so far as to rate it immoral but I guess the morality of the big truck market is another discussion entirely.
The Big Three are facing a serious problem in that they’re making the WRONG product. If you believe in a capitalist market, this company should be eliminated naturally as Toyota and Honda ship their fantastic cars to the Port of Long Beach, parked until the market picks up again. (I’m in the market for a 5 door Yaris Hatchback if you need someone to create a space in the port parking lot.)
If the government becomes the lender of first resort in this case, as opposed to the last, Americans are never again allowed to hate on socialism, Canada or government assistance ever again into the future.
I don’t want a dollar of any bailout to go to a company that still thinks manufacturing Hummers is a good idea. Since Germany and Japan, among other countries, have just bailed out their auto industries, Detroit is in a good position to expect the same from our government. However, if Detroit gets the loan, get the union workers to collectively rip apart current Hummer manufacturing plants and install Volt plants immediately. If the Volt will save you, make it now. Now’s the time. I’m in the market.
We’ll see what happens.
