What the heck happened?

2011 Chevy Volt

I don’t claim to be an expert on the auto industry, although I do play one on these pages. I do, however, claim to be a fan. And just like being a New York Yankees fan for the past 35 years or so makes me an expert on the team and all of its many weaknesses, having invested a good portion of my life reading about, dreaming about, and yes, even working in the automobile business (both through writing this column and spending some time as a sales person) gives me, I believe, a certain perspective on why it’s in the state it’s in right now.

Some of this came to me this evening as I started preparing myself for the trip to this year’s North American International Automobile Show (NAIAS) at Cobo Hall in Detroit. I thought back on some of my past trips there, and what an extravaganza it was. The lights. The glitter. The money spent. Yes, I know, you’ve got to spend money to make money. But I remember a few years ago hearing that the General Motors display in the hall cost over $2 million. I wasn’t impressed by the display when I first saw it and was even less impressed when I heard what it cost. I believe that was the same year the folks from Pontiac were showing a concept car called the Aztek. We all know how well that turned out. (Although I must admit the concept car was much better looking than the final production model.)

For years now the suits in downtown Detroit (and Dearborn and Auburn Hills) have been spending money like there was no tomorrow. (Oh, wait a minute — maybe there is no tomorrow!) But they don’t ever seem to spend it on the right things. If these geniuses had any foresight they would have realized that what goes up must come down. And almost any idiot knows at least enough about physics to realize that things usually drop a whole lot faster than they rise. For years they’ve been telling us that they’ve been building and selling gas-hogging pickups and SUVs that no one really needed because that’s what people wanted. Huge profits were pocketed on these vehicles, but where did it go (besides to stockholders)? It should have been used to design more fuel-efficient vehicles which could also have been sold at a profit. Now they’re in a panic mode because nobody wants (or can even get financing for) these pigs, and the lead time for new vehicles is measured in years. Unfortunately for them, their own existence these days—especially in the case of Chrysler—is being measured in mere months by some experts.

GM’s public relations experts have done a good job keeping the Chevy Volt in the news. The Volt is a plug-in electric car which is supposed to go on sale in the next year or two. (One of GM’s radio commercials brags that, as we speak, American manufacturers are still trying to come up with the battery which will power the Volt—hey, guys, time’s-a-wastin’.) Presently the Volt’s list price is predicted to be around $40,000. This is GM’s future? And with all the talk I’ve heard about how the Volt will go far in cutting fuel costs for its owners, nowhere have I heard what effect it will have on its owners’ electric bills, or what effect it could have on the environment if it’s ever produced in large enough numbers to impact pollutants from electricity-generating plants, which will have to increase production to accommodate the plug-in electric cars.

Questions, questions, questions. They’re easy to come up with. It’s the answers that are tough. Right now I’d say the wrong people are in place to solve the problems—especially if we’re throwing taxpayer money at them, also like there’s no tomorrow. Maybe when I’m at the show I’ll try to buttonhole a couple of these guys and give them a piece of my mind. After all, I’m not only the “expert,” but as a taxpayer I guess I’ve now officially got the right. Please steer me to the executive buffet table!