Contrary to popular belief, panic is a logical reaction to external threat. When a cornered animal’s fight or flight responses are unavailable or exhausted, acting erratically is their only hope. GM has been showing signs of panic for some time: on-again, off-again product plans, vainglorious boasts, mistimed marketing, ill-advised divestiture and more. Recent events indicate that the domestic automaker’s aberrant behavior is escalating; leading, I’m afraid, to extinction. But let’s start with the meta-weirdness and work our way back to specific inexplicability.
“What should power the world's vehicles in 20 years? How can personal transportation become more sustainable in an age of increasing global competition for resources? What role will the automotive industry play in developing markets?” The PR folk introducing GMNext.com have a firm grasp on the do-or-die issues facing GM. Equally obvious: their employer doesn’t have a coherent plan for addressing them.
Why else would GM open the “debate” to the general public? OK, sure, CEO Rick Wagoner says the site’s about “introducing some of our ideas for addressing critical issues concerning energy, the environment and globalization” to “spark a broader, global discussion on these important topics.” But GMNext’s overarching, underlying message is that the company’s product plans are an ill-defined work in progress. No wonder GMNext.com suffers from the usual GM ADD, promoting everything from OnStar’s Slow Down technology to the Volt’s erstwhile battery.
On one hand, fair enough. It’s an internet world. Power to the people! (As if.) Technology is in flux. React quickly and go with the flow! (As if.) On the other hand, if General Motors doesn’t already have a well-established plan for its future– from next Monday to 20 years away– we know someone who does.
Unlike Toyota, GM is panicking; flailing about; trying to find a way out of truck-heavy Hell. Instead of rallying the troops and heading in one direction, GM’s flying off in all directions, with predictably bizarre results. For example, GM’s “import fighter” is importing and rebadging a Belgian subcompact– and taking pride in the fact that Californians can’t identify it as a Saturn (see: GMNext.com). It's launching a bread-and-butter sedan with a $150m ad campaign– calling the Malibu “the car you can’t ignore”– with only a handful of new ‘Bu’s on the ground.
After dismissing the hybrid Prius as a marketing gimmick, GM’s poured billions into their own gas - electric system– for 5000lbs. SUVs. Meanwhile, after pronouncing that the new Chevrolet Volt will kick the current and next generation Prius’ ass come Spring, GM’s pulled back from the timeline– while continuing to promote the Volt some THREE YEARS before its POSSIBLE launch.
The confusion continues. GM’s just announced that they’ve killed their Ultra-V8 engine project: the new powerplant that would have [finally] replaced the ageing Northstar to power the next generation of GM luxury cars. Are they seriously suggesting that big Caddies– supposedly the standard of the world– don’t need the world’s best V8? This reminds me: GM’s on-again, off-again plans for a range of rear wheel-drive models remains… undecided.
The last issue brings us to the other hallmark of panic (besides illogical behavior): anger. A panicking animal is suffused with adrenalin. In this case, anger’s afflicting GM Car Czar “Maximum Bob” Lutz, the man who must [eventually] decide on GM’s new drivetrains and platforms in the face of a new, more restrictive legislative environment.
"Now that we have the 35 miles-per-gallon fuel economy mandate by 2020, I am hoping that in 2008 'Professor Doktor' David Friedman (research director, clean vehicles program, Union of Concerned Scientists) and his 'highly-qualified' band of allegedly concerned, self-proclaimed scientists will turn their energy toward showing the world's automotive industry exactly how those numbers, using existing technology and 'costs of a few hundred dollars at the most' can be attained with a vehicle selection that even remotely resembles the cars and trucks Americans want to buy today.”
The new federal regs represent a sea change in the regulatory landscape that all but the most ostrich-like industry players saw coming years ago. It scarcely seems credible that GM was waiting for the laws to be officially official before deciding on how to meet their requirements, including GM's platform strategy. But that’s the simple truth of the matter. Having waited too long, having no real plans for answering the vital mpg questions, Maximum Bob lashes out.
Mr. Lutz’ anger is an astonishing indication of the confusion, paranoia and panic going on behind the scenes at GM. But it’s no surprise. The automaker’s non-existent branding strategy is all the evidence needed that GM is simply lurching from crisis to crisis without rhyme or reason. While it's true that panic can work to an animal’s advantage– combining energy, surprise and luck for a desperate chance to overcome mortal danger– panic is the survival strategy of last resort. After that, nothing.
Source: General Motors Death Watch 159: GMNext? Panic!
BMW calls it the PAS which stands for Progressive Activity Sedan; we prefer to call it a 5-Series fastback with a tad of SUV and MPV elements. Anyway you call it, the PAS is yet another attempt from BMW to broaden its line-up with an all-new model following the X6 and it will go into production in 2009 or 2010. The PAS will be based on the underpinings of the 5-Series, so we should expect more or less the same engine range. As Autocar rightfully points out in the spy video, we’ll probably get a glimpse of the car in the form of a concept either this year at the Paris Show in September or maybe in Detroit next year. -See the video after the jump
After Altairnano's Eliminator dragster eliminated the world's record quarter mile sprint for an electric vehicle (EV), I called the company to ask them what it's like to own the "shit off a shovel" EV mindspace. During my podcast (below) with Bob Geobel, the company's Sales and Marketing Veep claimed his company's high density lithium-titanate battery is ready for hybrid passenger car prime time. "It's the low heat and low resistance of the battery that allows power to come out of that battery much quicker than standard battery technology. It can be charged quickly without thermal damage or overheating" And that means faster recharge times (four to five minutes using a 250 volt charger), more on-demand power and only a nine degree increase in the battery's temperature. So why haven't carmakers jumped on the zero emissions NanoSafe bandwagon? "While they're all looking at it, they've got it programmed in possibly in three to five years." That "possibly" doesn't include any contracts. If you're thinking why not Tesla, it seems the Silicon Valley start-up had their packaging requirements locked-in, and couldn't change gears. So to speak. 
