China aims to lead the world in electric cars
An article in the New York Times leads off with, "Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that". This news should come as no surprise to anyone but it should be of significant concern to the US automobile manufacturers and suppliers who are struggling to restructure themselves in order to return to business as usual. Building 20th century technology cars. China clearly sees the future of transportation and understands the volatility of oil supplies and prices. Strategic investments now will pay off later.
I recall in 1997 when Toyota starting making the Prius and Detroit laughed when they learned Toyota would lose $5000 per car sold. I can't say for sure but I think Toyota saw it differently. They knew they needed to build the cars now, even at a loss, in order to improve the technology and build brand awareness. Eleven years later, it is the hottest hybrid car in the market and they are turning a profit on each car. Not only that, other manufacturers are now licensing the technology for their own cars.
Earlier this year, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli was going to be interviewed in Business Week and offered readers a chance to submit questions for the interview. As far as I know my question was not used but it wanted to ask him why Chrysler couldn't break away from the pack in Detroit and focus only on high fuel-efficiency and alternative fuel small and medium-sized cars with exceptional technology in the form of user experience. (Think of Apple on wheels.) Leave the trucks and luxury cars and sports cars to other companies. Just do one thing and do it very, very well. Build what America and the world needs. Not what they want this year.