General Motors released an open letter to the American consumer today, in the form of an 867-word letter, which will run in the Dec. 8 edition of Automotive News. GM is hitting up the American taxpayer for $18 billion in federal loans, and wants to "be sure the American people know why we need it, what we'll do with it, and how it will make GM viable for the long term."
Aside from the fact that I've never seen a group of multimillionaires look so bloody despondent before, I’m not one to pile on the auto companies. You might call that a given, since the financial sector has its own credit to claim for screwing the economy to hell and back. What I mean is that I'm a personal financial advisor and not an auto industry journalist, so I'll stick to what I'm good at.
But this is why I’m all for an auto bailout that at least saves GM.
Chevrolet Volt
Cadillac Provoq
Now, I’m positive the branding geniuses at GM which brought us the Aztek and the Nova (Which, in Spanish, translates to “no-go” lol) could have come up with a better name than “Provoq” for the Cadillac crossover pictured above. However, speaking as a guy who barely sees any value in vehicles, aside from mobility (Some other advisers may bash me for this, but , about a year ago, I stopped counting vehicles on my clients’ balance sheets as “assets” – they simply do not hold value), I am actually excited about GM’s Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) lineup. Or, as they call it, E-Flex.
This is a first for me; I don't get excited about cars. But the idea that I can pick up between 50 and 150 miles to the gallon on a luxury crossover? Yeah, count me in. Okay, so at least GM can own up to their mistakes. And while I still don’t have my flying car yet, it appears that they do have a solid plan to recapture the American auto market with technology that weds energy efficiency to consumer-friendly design.
So we can expect the same from Ford and Chrysler, right?
Chrysler EcoVoyager
Dodge Aspen
Dodge ZEO
I’m not quite as impressed with Chrysler’s lineup, though at least they’ve managed to develop plug-in hybrids. My only beef with Chrysler is that they led the retro movement of the late ‘90s (remember the Prowler? PT Cruiser? Yeah, me neither) which gave the auto industry an excuse to cop out of developing energy-efficient technology, and the idea that the North American consumer would gladly drop money to buy gaudy, gas-blowing vehicles badged with whatever name the Big 3 re-stylized or dug up out of the graveyard (See: Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Pontiac GTO, Dodge Aspen, Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger).
That, and the fact that until a crashing economy forced them to come up with their first good ideas since the minivan, Chrysler has added squat in terms of value to the automotive sector. However, it appears that getting sold out by Daimler, and then bought by a private equity firm (Cerberus Capital) that’s only holding Chrysler until they’re attractive enough to sell, has done wonders for their humility.
Let’s have a look at what Ford has lined up...
Ford Reflex
As nice as the car looks, I can’t say anything positive about this. Yeah sure, it’s a hybrid car and all, but I’m still not sold. This is not the vehicle that the middle-income American or Canadian family will look to first, when buying a car for impressing co-workers and picking up the kids from soccer practice after work.
Ford Airstream - You must be kidding me...
As if saturating the earth with the Taurus, trying to push our mindset back towards the 60s with the Mustang, and scattering crumbs in the direction of consumers looking for energy-efficient vehicles (in the form of the Escape hybrid) wasn’t bad enough, it looks like Ford has no immediate plans to move on from the “Piss on Their Heads and Call it Rain” strategy.
If this were Survivor, I’d say Ford is getting kicked off the island. GM looks to be leading the pack, from a technology, PR, and organizational standpoint. Chrysler will stick around for as long as Cerberus LLC believes that there’s money to be made in the North American auto sector. Ford? Same company whose founder had to be sold on the idea that making cars in any colour besides black would help make money? They are stuck in a time-warp, and their brand is damaged.
So, from a financial perspective, I’d say that the bailout is still a good idea – provided someone can talk some sense into Alan Mullaly.
Alan Mullaly
----
This blog was written by: Andray Domise for I AM IN DEMAND.Com
*Andray Domise is a contributing writer and a financial advisor with International Capital Management Canada.
----
No comments:
Post a Comment