Automotive News - February 4, 2008 - (Page 12) 12 • FEBRUARY 4, 2008 opinion This generation’s man on the moon: Green technology In his final State of the Union address, President Bush called for more federal research into advanced batteries and renewable fuels to power vehicles of the future. But what’s really needed is the equivalent of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb in the 1940s or the technology race that put a man on the moon in the 1960s. A big lesson from the 2008 AuThe U.S. role tomotive News World Congress: Although the United States is in in developing a green-technology race, its role alternative-vehicle in developing alternative-vehicle technologies and the hydrotechnologies and the gen automobile could dwindle hydrogen automobile unless there is more investment. Industry executives warned could dwindle unless that Germany, China and Japan are investing heavily in green there is more technologies and could surpass the United States. If that hapinvestment. pens, global automakers will follow the technology and the money overseas, taking jobs, infrastructure, suppliers and the technology initiative with them. The energy bill signed into law in December is pushing the industry to meet tougher fuel economy standards. Backers say a climate bill before Congress could give automakers and suppliers $40 billion to retool their factories to build green cars. Automakers need to make green-technology leadership a competitive advantage. Energy providers ought to build hydrogen infrastructure. Universities must enhance green-technology curricula and research. And consumers need to bear the burden of higher fuel costs. The policy of cheap fuel may be politically expedient, but buyers will pay for fuel economy only when fuel is more expensive. Taxes that raise pump prices may be needed. Government has spent billions on the now-defunct Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles and its successors, such as FreedomCAR and the hydrogen fuel initiative. But it has little to show due to sparse accountability and focus. Green technology is too important to be left to a hodgepodge of special interests. It must be a genuine partnership involving government, investors, automakers, suppliers, energy providers, researchers and educators. That will require oversight and coordination, probably by a political appointee. This is an election year with a lame-duck administration and politicians more interested in being re-elected than in tackling something as comprehensive as a green-technology Manhattan Project. But it is so important to U.S. interests that it would be shameful to wait for a new administration and Congress. Just about everyone agrees: The Detroit 3 have too many dealerships. For the companies and the dealers to prosper, there must be bold moves by some dealers and their factories. Because of everything that goes with being an automobile dealer for one, two or even three generations, it will be painful for some to give up their franchises. Most states have laws that protect franchised dealers from almost any reduction that a manufacturer might want to impose. Another option is for the manufacturer to buy dealerships and close them. That could get expensive. An effective reduction likely would take far more money and time than any of the Detroit 3 can afford. We all remember the Oldsmobile fiasco. Whether or not it was thought out, it took lots of money and a long time to resolve the whole mess. But even with all the difficulties and the DAILY AUTO NEWS >> You can get the news you need every day. Go to www.autonews.com/signup and sign up for our daily e-mail newsletter. It will be painful for some dealers downside, the facts are irrefutable. There are too many domestic-brand dealerships in the major markets of this country. I haven’t heard anyone talk about reducing the number of dealerships in rural areas. There might be some consolidation, but those dealers perform a service. Although their sales may not be as high as some would like, those dealers are an important and necessary part of the distribution system. We’ve seen steady growth in the number and locations of foreign franchises, and the inevitable invasion of Chinese brands will reduce the market share of other brands sold in the United States. There doesn’t seem to be any lessening of the growth of Asian brands, whether Toyota or Hyundai or anyone in between. I haven’t heard anyone talk about reducing the number of dealerships in rural areas. Those dealers are an important and necessary part of the distribution system. The United States has been a fertile market for new players, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason to expect that to change. The Detroit 3 are going through a difficult and serious period that might become far worse. Many of the franchised dealers who will leave the Detroit 3 will find other, new franchises, and before long, they will become the competitors of the remaining Detroit 3 dealers. You can bet there will be plenty of conversation about it at the NADA convention in San Francisco. Buy it here, Campi, not in China, India THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE INDUSTRY Established in 1925, published every Monday by Crain Communications Inc. Keith E. Crain, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Peter Brown, Associate Publisher and Editorial Director David Sedgwick, Editor Edward Lapham, Executive Editor HOW TO REACH US Web site: www.autonews.com Editorial staff autonews@crain.com Phone: 313-446-0361 Fax: 313-446-0383 Circulation Advertising subs@crain.com lschlagheck@crain.com Phone: 888-446-1422 Phone: 313-446-6790 Fax: 313-446-6777 Fax: 313-446-8030 Editorial data/research To locate information that has been published in Automotive News, call 313-446-1662. Customer service To start or renew a subscription or to report an address change or a delivery problem, e-mail subs@crain.com or call 888-446-1422 (in the U.S. or Canada) or 313-446-1662 (in all other locations). AUTOMOTIVE NEWS (ISSN 0005-1551) is published weekly at 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2997. Periodicals postage is paid at Detroit, MI and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2912. Canadian Post International Publications Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement #40012850, GST#136760444. Canadian return address: 2-7496 Bath Road, Mississauga, ON L4T 1L2 Printed in the U.S.A. To the Editor: As a resident of the United States and, specifically, Michigan, I read with utter disdain about the plans of Chrysler LLC’s John Campi to begin moving purchasing volume and design/information work to China and India (“Campi will move fast to buy global,” Jan.21). He is just another in a long line of shortsighted company executives who use the cheaper-must-be-better approach in running a purchasing department. I’m sure the employees of Chrysler will be extremely motivated to know they will soon be teaching the Chinese and the Indians how to do their jobs — just what the struggling automaker needs. I’m sure we’ll hear of more Chrysler jobs lost to the same region before long. Hmm. I wonder why. We are exporting technology and know-how to the Chinese, and we’re paying them for it! How about Campi preaching how proud he is to have most of the purchased components coming from North America, supporting our economy? How about motivating Chrysler to fight the urge to blindly source overseas and keep our technology and know-how here? I think Campi might find it a tough but possibly very rewarding job, and those of us working in the auto industry (especially here in Michigan) will thank him for it. LARRY EBERHART Sales Director, North America Feuer Powertrain USA Inc. White Lake, Mich. pricing vehicles so exorbitantly high that Ford’s new corporate quest has become finding enough suckers who will pay a fortune for a fancy pickup rather than concentrating on the core markets that built Ford in the first place. Ford has attempted to crack the BMW and Mercedes luxury markets and has done poorly. By creating its own custom pickup market, I guess Ford feels it might have it all to itself. The problem is that even if Ford could make $100,000 on every one sold, it wouldn’t contribute much to the company’s financial condition. The irony is that if Toyota and Honda felt that such a market was worthwhile and really wanted it, they would have it in a minute and wouldn’t have to sacrifice their core markets to do it. While Ford gratuitously concentrates on (and brags about) its higher-margin vehicles, it continues to give up market share in areas that could contribute significantly to its corporate health. Meanwhile, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and others are having Ford’s lunch and will continue to do so. Alan Mulally, do yourself a favor, forget the Atlanta lawyer with an extra $3 million in pocket change for toys and read the Automotive News articles about the global groundswell for Tata and Smart minicars. If not, maybe you should see whether Tata would like to buy all of Ford rather than just Jaguar and Land Rover. At least that way, Ford stockholders could anticipate a growing instead of shrinking investment. DON FREBER President Marquette Tool & Die Co. St. Louis We invite letters from our readers. Please limit your letter to 250 words and tell us whether we may print it. We reserve the right to edit it. Include your name and title, the name of your company, your city and your state. Also include your telephone number or your e-mail address. E-mail letters to: autonews@crain.com Or send them to: Letters Automotive News 1155 Gratiot Ave. Detroit, MI 48207-2997 Big-buck trucks: Ford is dead wrong To the Editor: Regarding your Jan. 14 article “Bigbuck trucks defy sales trend,” I find it frightening to see that Ford employs someone who enjoys the challenge of http://www.autonews.com/signup http://www.autonews.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.