Fixing Detroit

Over the past several weeks, the leaders of America’s automotive industry have been warning us that they are in danger of running out of money. They have implored Congress to “loan” them billions of tax payer dollars to keep their businesses alive.

These dollars – according to the CEOs of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler – will be used to keep the so-called “Big Three” afloat while they reorganize and retool their companies in order to compete against foreign car builders.

Many members of Congress have expressed reservations about making these billions available to companies that could go out of business in the near future – thereby defaulting on these loans. Such a default would leave the American tax payer once again holding the bag; saddled with an additional $14-36 billion in national debt.

Despite repeated proclamations that they are, “Learning from the Japanese,” Detroit auto makers apparently lack a complete understanding of what is going on. How long have Japanese automotive companies been gaining on their American competitors? A year? Five years? No, it has been happening for decades. And, recently, Toyota surpassed GM in car sales.

One big problem is that Detroit has stopped designing and building cars, and – over the last decade or so – has been producing rolling entertainment centers.

Very few – if any – drivers need a heated and cooled glove compartment, a seven way power-adjustable seat with multiple driver memory, individual headrest mounted DVD players for backseat passengers, or a 12 gigabyte in-dash entertainment/navigational system capable of making dinner reservations while purchasing opera tickets and flowers for their wife.

Detroit has continually added more bells and whistles to vehicles in the hope that they will entice consumers. Unfortunately, most of these newer options have little to do with improvements in performance, safety, or gas mileage.

What we need is a well-built, safe, reliable car that will get us from point A to point B; a vehicle to help us get the job done! Of course, a significant increase in gas mileage would help too.

Fortunately, I have struck upon an idea that will help solve the problem; an existing business model that could quickly return our domestic auto industry to profitability.

First, I advise the Big Three to stop producing any model released before 2006, and stop providing support for those models. In addition, limit licensing agreements for the production of replacement or add-on parts for these models. This will quickly give consumers no real choice but to upgrade their vehicles.

Next, give all the remaining models – of all three companies – the same name. This will make advertising easier. The companies will have easy name recognition, and individual versions can be identified simply as – for example – the Ford “New Name” Truck, or the Chevrolet “New Name” Sedan. Sales of the limited number of recent designs will help sustain Detroit until the much anticipated release of their new products.

While this is being accomplished, car designers in Detroit will design a new line of vehicles. This re-vamped vehicle will correct the myriad problems that consumers have uncovered while using the multiple 2006-2008 models. The redesigned, updated, and improved product will be released, amid much fanfare, in late 2009, or early 2010. (Though that release date would be subject to change.)

Of course, the biggest challenge involved in this business model will be convincing consumers that the 2006-2008 models are cutting edge products which are functional, safe, and reliable, with no inter-operability issues.

A two-pronged solution to this problem exists.

First, a massive advertising campaign will be used to convince consumers that the product they already own and operate daily is easy and fun to use, and that – despite consumer awareness that multiple upgraded products are already in development – it is far superior to their nearest competitor.

Second, a nickname will be needed to disguise the current product until the new version is available. This name should be used by the Big Three in an attempt to turn consumer attention away from the weakness – real or perceived – of the current product line. My suggestion would be something catchy, like…Mojave.