My Occasional Rant 2009-06-01

The bigger they come, the harder they fall.

After years of believing that the boys on Madison Ave could sell anything they dreamed up the big three automakers are getting their comeuppance. Seems only right that years of foisting planned obsolescence, and gas-guzzling, over-sized, polluting dinosaurs on us while suppressing new maintenance-free technology and alternate energy sources has finally caught up with them. The people who deserve our empathy are the men on the line who are losing their jobs and the rest of the economy which is taking a hit with them. If this debacle forces the auto-makers to confront the need for a durable, fuel efficient, low maintenance, non-polluting means of transportation then maybe something good will come out of all this. Should this happen then gone for ever will be the urge to come up with useless gimmicks and advertising campaigns for a new model year that would serve to persuade that red-blooded American male that he needs a new car every year. Exactly why such innovation has never happened in the past. It remains to be seen if this industry has reached the tipping point at which crisis management can usher in change.

Surely it is time our over-dependence on the internal combustion engine was recognized in Detroit. When smog days start occurring in Toronto in February something should be recognized as being wrong. The world is rapidly using up the last of the easily available sources of fossil fuel and must recognize that its ever-increasing thirst for a non-renewable resource cannot be sustained indefinitely. The city of London banned the use of coal because the soot and acid rain it produced was destroying its buildings. Eventually we will have to face that fact that using petroleum-based products is destroying the world.

Car makers have long recognized that the most profitable sector of their business is not the sale of auto-cars but the after market service. Grudgingly and with ceaseless prodding they have slowly made cars that are more reliable and require less frequent maintenance. Even as this happened they have perpetuated the myth that their own dealers know best how to keep your car running smoothly. And despite long-lasting synthetic oils and onboard computers that monitor oil quality and life service managers still advocate quarterly oil changes not for the good of your car but for the health of their bottom line.

What's at stake should this present crisis force a sea change in motor-vehicle production is a radically reduced world for the auto sector. If the average car owner were to keep his car for at least 10 years and need to do little or no maintenance on it then the present round of dealer closures would definitely become permanent and more would follow. Whether or not the big-three survive it should be obvious that the number of models each produce is going to shrink and the need for pointless innovation just to sell a new model year will lessen. Continued growth is not sustainable in this or any other market. As inner cities and many small countries are already discovering there are not enough roads for an endlessly increasing number of cars to drive and certainly not enough places to park them.