My take on the automotive bailout

Last night on CNN.com I watched some of the "big three" auto execs make their cases for support with Congress. I was not impressed. These domestic industry leaders have been so out of touch with their market for years, and they were visibly struggling to come up a compelling argument for a $25 billion bailout. Yes, the economy is suffering (they constantly use that as the driving--excuse the pun--cause), but their problems started way before our current recession.

American auto manufacturers been making terrible decisions for decades, cutting costs everywhere possible instead of investing in quality production methods. It's sad, because there's been recent improvement on some new American cars (Chevy Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Ford Flex to name a few) to actually make them actually competitive with imports. But is it too little too late?

GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz recently was on TV talking about the innovative new Chevy Volt, which promises to be America's first plug-in hybrid vehicle. But, he described the car as something that would appeal to "hippie, unattractive women." I'm sorry, but how can a person this out-of-touch with his products, market, and modern-day society run an organization as large as General Motors? Is THIS someone you would want to lead one of the country's largest corporations out of a huge financial crisis? Is THIS where people want to direct their tax dollars?

I vote no on the bailout unless there is major change in the leadership of these organizations. Plus, I recommend appointment of someone like Carlos Ghosn (he completely turned Nissan around in the late 90s) in the government to direct supervision.

A fitting room for cars?

A novel marketing concept for new car buyers! Interesting idea, huh? 

From LeftLaneNews.com:

When you go to the store to buy a major clothing investment — say a suit — you always try it on before you buy it to make sure it looks good on you. But when buying a car (which is generally a person's second largest investment), most shoppers — as many as 95 percent — have no idea what they look like behind the wheel of a prospective vehicle. Chevrolet is aiming to change that as it has launched a new "fitting room" to give buyers an idea of what they look like in a car before they actually buy it.

The fitting room trial is taking place in South London, but the experiment could spread to other regions of the world if it proves to be a success. Potential buyers drive the car onto a turntable and then are enclosed by a round wall containing three mirrors. Once in place, buyers can use a hand-held remote to rotate the vehicle 360 degrees. While the idea might seem vain at first, Chevrolet might be onto something. After all, don't we all look at our reflections when we drive past reflective glass-sided buildings?