I do believe hindsight is 20-20, but here's what GM CEO Rick Wagoner should have done for his Congressional hearing on Thursday...
He should have flown commercial to Dulles International Airport. At the airport, his team should have had a charged and ready prototype Chevy Volt, the plug-in which can travel 40 miles without using the internal combustion gas engine. He should have arranged with Congressman Dingell to alert the Capitol police that he was going to pull right up to the steps of the Capitol building. Since it's only about 30 miles from Dulles to the Capitol building, Mr. Wagoner could have driven the whole way there without using a drop of gasoline. The Chevy Volt is designed to handle the average American's commute without using the gas "backup" engine. The guy running shotgun (Mr. Wagoner should drive himself), should have taken the car and plugged it in while the boss is giving his testimony and Mr. Wagoner should have driven it away back to Dulles where he would have caught a commercial flight home. If he had done this, the press would be talking about nothing else, and GM would probably have thousands of Volt pre-sales with a renewed faith in its ability to be the leader in the automotive industry.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to bash GM. I grew up in a Chevy town (Buffalo NY) and went to school with many kids whose fathers worked for GM. My Dad has mostly owned Chevys. Back then GM made quality passenger cars. In the decades since, GM and the rest of the Detroit crew has lost sight of the passenger car market. I would like to see the "Big Three" recover and thrive, but I think they've been very sluggish to recognize trends concentrating instead on trucks, SUVs, and other gas guzzlers.
There's a book which was written in the late 1980s called Fumbling the Future by Douglas K. Smith and Robert C. Alexander. The subtitle is "How Xerox Invented Then Ignored the First Personal Computer." As the subtitle indicates, the book describes how Xerox PARC failed to realize the potential commercial value of the personal computer. I suspect someone will soon write a similar book, with the title, Fumbling the Future: How GM Invented Then Ignored the First Electric Car. They could have owned the hybrid and plug-in market, but they squandered their lead in the electric car market by never bringing one to production. It's sad really. GM has good technology, R&D, and people, they just don't seem to put it all together any more.
He should have flown commercial to Dulles International Airport. At the airport, his team should have had a charged and ready prototype Chevy Volt, the plug-in which can travel 40 miles without using the internal combustion gas engine. He should have arranged with Congressman Dingell to alert the Capitol police that he was going to pull right up to the steps of the Capitol building. Since it's only about 30 miles from Dulles to the Capitol building, Mr. Wagoner could have driven the whole way there without using a drop of gasoline. The Chevy Volt is designed to handle the average American's commute without using the gas "backup" engine. The guy running shotgun (Mr. Wagoner should drive himself), should have taken the car and plugged it in while the boss is giving his testimony and Mr. Wagoner should have driven it away back to Dulles where he would have caught a commercial flight home. If he had done this, the press would be talking about nothing else, and GM would probably have thousands of Volt pre-sales with a renewed faith in its ability to be the leader in the automotive industry.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to bash GM. I grew up in a Chevy town (Buffalo NY) and went to school with many kids whose fathers worked for GM. My Dad has mostly owned Chevys. Back then GM made quality passenger cars. In the decades since, GM and the rest of the Detroit crew has lost sight of the passenger car market. I would like to see the "Big Three" recover and thrive, but I think they've been very sluggish to recognize trends concentrating instead on trucks, SUVs, and other gas guzzlers.
There's a book which was written in the late 1980s called Fumbling the Future by Douglas K. Smith and Robert C. Alexander. The subtitle is "How Xerox Invented Then Ignored the First Personal Computer." As the subtitle indicates, the book describes how Xerox PARC failed to realize the potential commercial value of the personal computer. I suspect someone will soon write a similar book, with the title, Fumbling the Future: How GM Invented Then Ignored the First Electric Car. They could have owned the hybrid and plug-in market, but they squandered their lead in the electric car market by never bringing one to production. It's sad really. GM has good technology, R&D, and people, they just don't seem to put it all together any more.
Great post. You should be an advisor.
He'll be doing that tomorrow: