On GM and Ford Failing:

I am a car guy. For awhile that has been somewhat difficult to reconcile with my treehugging personality, but the advent of a wave of attractive and performance-oriented electric cars, I find myself like a kid in a candy-store again. I keep on catching glimpses of a world that runs on energy gathered above ground, and it has freakin' sweet sportscars in it.

But the Detroit automakers have always had a place in that futuristic image. I never really see myself driving a Toyota, even if it is a sporty one. My dream car is an American one, and though I am a European car fanatic as well, the American aesthetic really has something going for it. All you have to do is look at the design team over at Ford to see that the US really has a vision all its own.

What will happen if they go bankrupt, though? One must assume that they will come out the other side with some semblance of their former selves, but what will have been lost? Is it too much to hope that if Ford (and GM as well, though I really am a Ford guy) goes under, that they will cut all the fat, keep their design team, and become an agile next-generation carmaker? Probably wishful thinking. It seems more likely that bankruptcy would mean nothing more than massive job losses and an expansion of the Truck units.

I guess all I can do is hope. I posted a while back about Jaguar's possible renaissance, perhaps this is Ford and GM's chance at a major re-organization. Or maybe I'm just way too optimistic.

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