TOPIC 'Hydrogen & Hydrogen Cars' on Dec 10, 2008 (CET)
Big Three Automakers’ Latest Crisis
Capturing the headlines of late in the United States, besides the continuing saga of the messy $700 billion bailout/rescue plan for the financial institutions that seems to be heading off in directions unintended by the original participants, the CEOs of the biggest three automakers in Detroit addressed a Congressional committee in mid-November 2008 also asking for help.
The auto industry wants a bailout program just like the banks got. Some, including former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, think the auto industry should be allowed to fail and then restructured. Many think the auto industry has gotten in this mess all by itself and should have made changes long ago that would have prevented the current catastrophe.
New answers to the fuel-crunch and vehicles made to operate from renewable energy sources have to be a prominent part of the future. Not many people like change; it’s for sure that the Detroit auto industry doesn’t. However, change necessarily is a component of progress. Now that the U.S. is anticipating an environmentally friendly new President in January 2009, the time for change, and the realization that change is necessary, has come.
The auto industry needs to incorporate “green” solutions into a re-structuring plan if and when Congress approves an aid package to help the troubled industry. The focus has to be on the future and the needs of the future. New energy programs and plans must be adopted.
Some suggestions that have been made include breaking the strategy into segments. First, gather the best and brightest minds to analyze what blend of methodology is going to fit best with infrastructure needs and the needs of the driving public. Then, get the automakers together with that group of people and configure a strategy that is going to make sense to all parties involved and be financially “do-able.” Next, return to the group of people who have the finances to invest in restructuring the auto industry. It is with great hope that the U.S. general public looks toward Washington, D.C., in January 2009 for guidance with issues like these.
Sherry Irvin
on behalf of the
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