CNN’s Campbell Brown hits the nail on the head today with a story describing how the “Big-Three” automakers have caused their own demise:  http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/18/campbell.brown.big.three/index.html

The bottom line – Detroit has spent too much time & money lobbying congress to keep things the way they are, instead of focusing on innovation, and actually making cars that people want to buy.  Let’s face facts – times have changed, and the industry has gone in a different direction.  If American automakers can’t provide what consumers want, then it’s time to re-boot (with our help), so that they can come back smaller, leaner, and more focused on serving the needs of their customers (like any other business).   

Here are the facts as I see them:  Ford and GM rely far too much on 12-MPG trucks & SUVs. (they play a semantic game citing highway MPG, and just flat out lie in their advertising – but anyone who owns such a vehicle knows how much it costs to fill it up each week).  The Big-Three continue to milk their investments in these behemoths – hoping to wring out another year of high-margin sales from stale technology.  The CEO of Ford Motors this week said his company’s priority remains to maximize the efficiency of the combustion engine.  WHAT???  In other words - more of the same - No R&D – Just keep cranking out the same old stuff, using the same old technology, and let’s hope we survive another year, until the economy recovers, and until the lemming-like US consumer slides back into his/her trance.

Sure, gas process are hovering around $2 a gallon today – and granted – the American consumer is for-the-most-part stupid, with a live-for-today mentality.  But I think the tide has finally turned.  We all know the price of gas can be manipulated as easily as an NBA game officiated by Tim Donaghy.  $4/gallon is coming back – for sure - and the American consumer has no say in when, or why.  It’s a classic addiction cycle, and the only choice the consumer has control over is when they decide to break this cycle by moving on to a more fuel efficient driving alternative.

So, do we bail these guys out?  I say we use this as opportunity to make some changes.  Any and all government assistance should come with a web of strings attached.  It’s time to invest in battery-powered cars.  At a minimum, every new car (repeat EVERY car) should be a hybrid within 2 years.  This makes new jobs – which accrue to the Energy Economy.  One tenured autoworker doesn’t need to make 80K a year, when two new recent college grads can be employed working on new assembly lines at 40K a year.  It’s common sense.  The Auto industry needs new labor contracts:  its workers need to work on new projects, and the companies in charge of it all need to heed this wakeup call – and set themselves up for the eventual wave of growth – in the new Energy Economy.