The great Detroit automobile age is coming to a close and General Motors has become the dinosaur fossil of that age as America begins to pay the piper for its short sightedness within an expanding and increasingly energy deficient global economy: Allen L Roland
George W Bush is partially responsible for our dependence on big Oil and continues to avoid the stark reality of a rapidly changing world energy environment.
Here's his stupid take on the recent hike in Gas prices as caught at a recent news conference ~ click on
General Motors is tanking and it's a sign of the times despite a dubious sales report in June ~ where GM’s sales sank ”only” 18% compared with a 28% decline on the part of Ford.
Unhappy investors recently focused on some of the other data suggested by the June sales reports. Principal among those data points: clear signs that GM effectively bought market share in the month by amping incentives in the final week of the period, a short-term fix that helps sales at the expense - obviously - of margins.
Other data points worth noting, as reported by the Wall Street Journal:
* domestic auto makers’ market share fell below 50% to 46%
* industry sales declined 18% year-over-year
* annual sales pace in North America 13.6 million units versus 15.7 million units a year ago
* GM ”lost” as many as 40,000 car sales because it can’t produce the smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles consumers want
* Honda can make 400,000 Civics a year, while GM’s small-car comparable - the Cobalt - tops out at production of 250,000 units
* Toyota’s supply of its Prius hybrid.
There is a good reason I've been buying Honda automobiles for the past 20 years ~ it's a superior car, it's more reliable than Detroit steel and it gets great milage.
As my friend Lynda Hendrell has said " our whole society ~ especially California ~ has been automobile-centric for so many years. "
" It all started with the phenomenon of "suburbia" which was was made possible because of the affordable car.
Ditto the "mall" phenomenon. Imagine America, at one time, without the Drive In Movie and the Drive By fast food! Even the Drive By prescriptions!
The whole auto business, not just the cars themselves but all the parts, paint, tires, gas stations, mechanic shops, dealerships, etc. have been one of, if not THE, major forces 'driving' the American economy.
The Car ~ so romanticized in songs and movies, TV and advertising ~ was like an extension of the our self. Advertising taught us we CAN'T LIVE without the right car. "
General Motors was the leader with its banner flying high proclaiming ~ " What's good for General Motors is good for the USA ".
It's all over, Folks ~ General Motors is dying and so is our gas guzzling auto driven economy.
It's a sign of the times and Europe is way ahead of us ~ in that gas has been very expensive for many years, and where even upper middle class people hardly ever own cars ~ there's just no need because of the great infrastructure of trains and other public transportation. ( All things we have seriously neglected because of our addiction to the automobile )
Former Vice President Al Gore challenged Americans today to make a complete shift to Earth-friendly energy sources in the next decade, saying the nation's "dangerous over reliance on carbon-based fuel" is at the core of its economic, environmental and national security problems.
Allen L Roland
Freelance Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
Cartoon courtesy of Pat Oliphant / Washington Post
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