Editor’s Note: There are not a lot of fans of the $20 billion bailout of the auto industry outside of Detroit. But if the government is going to get involved, Spark Capital’s Todd Dagres believes it should insist on new leadership.
In an open letter to President Barack Obama, Dagres argues that the car industry needs no less than a Steve Jobs to save it. In fact, he suggests that Jobs himself would be the best person to fill that role if his health allows him to do so. If not, there are other capable leaders in Silicon Valley that might bring much-needed change to the auto industry.
But a product=specific approach is worth considering, even one which results in American car companies no longer building any cars, but just designing them. After all, Apple doesn’t manufacture its own computers.
The letter is below.
Barack Obama
President of the United States
Dear President Obama:
I am writing you with a suggestion on how to deal with the US auto industry crisis. The recession and the meltdown of financial markets are the catalysts, but the root of the problem is the manner in which these colossal auto companies have been managed. It’s time to face the truth: The people running the US auto companies are officious bumblers, the products stink, and the unions are a parasitic drain on the business. And yet the Government seems content to throw billions of dollars at the problem. How can we bail out the same people that presided over the destruction of the industry? It is painfully clear that they are incapable of producing products that can compete successfully with German and Japanese rivals.
As you well know, if GM and Chrysler fail, the US auto industry will suffer a fatal blow – along with our entire economy. We must find a way to not only save the industry, but also make it competitive in the global marketplace. Cars are part of our national fiber, based on an industry that includes a massive ecosystem of vehicles and parts that stretch across our people and economy. However, bailing out the US car makers and investing tax payers’ money in inferior products is no solution. We must strive for a level of competitiveness in the auto industry similar to that which we have attained in the Information Technology industry. Our country’s leadership in the auto industry lies in developing future cars that are more like computers with wheels than mechanical sleighs addicted to dinosaur juice. The future of the automotive industry will be defined by electronics and software. The good news is that there is no country with more talent and capability in this arena than the United States.
Now the suggestion: Draft Steve Jobs (his health willing) to run a combined GM and Chrysler. After all, who has done a better job developing and marketing products consumers want to buy? Who has been more successful keeping the US ahead of other nations in competitive, technology-based markets? Mr. Jobs has also done right by his shareholders. GM and Chrysler have far too many product lines, most of which are uncompetitive. To compete in the global auto industry, they must develop Macs, iPods and iPhones with wheels. Rather than pouring billions of dollars into these failed companies, why not replace the current management with people capable of changing the way cars are designed, manufactured, powered and sold? I believe Mr. Jobs is the best choice to lead this effort.
As has been widely reported, Mr. Jobs has some health issues and it is possible that he may not be able to dedicate the time and effort required to put the US auto industry back on firm footing. Only Mr. Jobs knows if he is up to the task. If anyone can convince him to take this on, I suspect it’s you. Should Mr. Job’s be unable to take on the position, in my opinion, great technology leaders including John Chambers at Cisco Systems or Craig Barrett at Intel would also be worthy of your consideration. Both are great Americans and capable of leading the charge.
It is time for us to put tax payer money behind an executive capable of transforming the automotive industry. I respectfully submit that neither the current leadership behind these companies nor government officials are the answer. We need entrepreneurs, consumer product savants and creative managers capable of effecting change. We need great leaders who can transform cars into computers rather than horse-less carriages. You were elected to the Presidency based on a mandate for change. Making the necessary moves to transform the US auto industry would be a great way to walk the walk. This challenge is a once in a lifetime opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of jobs, hundreds of billions in future GDP, and prevent further deterioration of our nation’s manufacturing sector. This is the time for great Americans to be called upon to serve. I can think of no better leader than Steve Jobs to support America in this time of national crisis. President Obama, I urge you to seriously consider recruiting Mr. Jobs to manage the revitalization of the US auto industry that is so desperately needed. Thank you for your consideration of this suggestion.
Respectfully yours,
Todd Dagres,
Founder and General Partner,
Spark Capital
well if Hyundai can win a bunch of awards, something has got to change.
I think we should bring in the Orange County Chopper boys to run things…..
Ignorant letter by an ignorant man looking for publicity. Jobs knows nothing about cars or building and selling them. He can’t disband the unions which are the major issue with domestic automakers. Honestly, this looks like something you’d expect to be posted by some self-righteous moron on http://f2bb.com He just threw two buzz -names together and posted it online expecting it to be picked up by blogs.
I work in the automotive industry and this article is ridiculous beyond belief.
-1 to TC for posting it.
Michael, please come back.
Its American Weekend humour
I *don’t* work in the auto industry and i also think this article is ridiculous beyond belief.
Seriously, what could be worse than American GMs?
Bloated ugly GM designs made in China.
What Gm needs is exactly what BO is doing, raising the CAFE standards.
Next would be repealing all the laws that GM’s fleet of lobbyists got passed over the last 20 years.
“Ignorant letter by an ignorant man looking for publicity. Jobs knows nothing about cars or building and selling them.”
you would be surprised how many ceo’s don’t know a thing (almost literally) about what the company they run makes or how to sell it. I have see it many times expecting the company to crash and burn and well, they are still ticking.
The problem right now it’s not quality, comfort, luxury but financial.
Remember something, we don’t need a persons who knows how to build a car but a person who knows how to deal with this crisis.
If Jobs is not up to the task lets name another person that can save those companies, deliver better products, and get ready of the employees that are overpaid.
agreed…a total outsider is not capable of running a car company…the closest to that has been alan mullaly at ford, formerly of boeing…with a manufacturing background and with plans that have already simplified fords product lineup.
a stark contrast to bill ford… who was an insider only by name. he didn’t know anything about the nuts and bolts of how to build anything….and was partially to blame for fords decline after nassr’s tenure.
most automakers already have the business model of design and outsourced manufacturing. the assembly plants are just that… “assembly plants” to think that they are not following this business model already illustrates how uninformed the author is on how business runs.
if the author of the post actually took the time to really research the industry he’d understand what’s really going on and also acknowledge its the american consumer that played part in the down turn of these companies… they only continued to build gas guzzling suv’s because we told them to that by our spending habits…..
the newer products from gm and ford genuinely improved and comparable to the imports… however they do face brand preception issues due to years of mismanagement prior to wagoneers and mullaly’s tenure… had it not been for the credit meltdown… and shrinking of the economy we’d be touting the product renaissance going on in detroit
unfortunately chrysler is dead and should be put out to pasture……
Yes, and there is consumer demand for hair as well – perhaps Steve Jobs can be brought in to solve that age old problem as well. In fact, I think he might be able to work with Pixar to come up with an educational video to convince the hair follicle unions to disband and get back to work on the farm and grow some hair. It’s a shovel ready project!
People need to get off of Steve Jobs’ nuts.
dude…this is very interesting
you know what….this might even work…Obama has already have popular people who are from different backgrounds in his team….he might as well take a note of this…
http://www.livbit.com
I am in an environment management graduate course in Singapore and today, we are working on some of the most exciting ideas one can think of in environment tech and planning. One of the key areas is of course transport and we look at transport holistically. It begins with the engine but also needs the fuel, the outlet, the supply origin and the urban milieu to encourage clean driving. Detroit has to be part of a global innovation effort and not a stand-alone American initiative. This has to include standards for clean air that are globally applicable, intelligent grids that allow 2-way transmission of power and policies to reward innovation. Whether it is Hyundai or GM, does not matter- the auto industry issue is part of a larger global sustainability issue.
oh lawd…
another guy who thinks they have the issues solved to make gm/detroit run smooth!!!
tell you what.. when jobs or almost any other company in the tech biz, has to deal with the hurdles that are routinely pushed on the auto biz by gov’t.. then you can talk…
don’t get me wrong.. i used to work in a foundry for gm ~30 years ago… ( i was a youngsta!) and i’m not surprised at the issues facing gm/ford/etc.. however, given the tsunami that’s hit the financial market.. it’s not as if this is something they could have forseen…
that said.. i’m not sure that the 20 billion should go to the industry without serious financial upside for the gov’t as a serious investor…
but todd.. serious, what are your chops?
what businesses have you built (not invested in, built) that come anywhere close to anything the size of a small gm division…
peace…
This article is ridiculous beyond belief and shows absolutely no understanding of the macroeconomic and microeconomic forces which have resulted in the current malaise for the US auto industry.
Yes, we do need to bring back Michael Arrington. If Arrington thought that recruiting more writers = Techcrunch less dependent on Michael Arrington = more attactive business for Techcrunch for potential acquirors, he has been sadly mistaken.
Michael, for the sake of your personal net worth, so something about the quality of the articles on this site.
I personally think the site has MUCH improved since arrington is gone…
None of the boring porn/sex crap he used to write about, many writers are still rookies and don’t know how to properly research stuff.. but with Arrington gone at least one of those writers is gone…
Actually, it wasn’t all that hard to predict . . . .
i-CAR anyone? yeah right. all the auto industry needs is the EV-1 electric car to come back. nobody wants to support a car with a near zero maintenance and does not support the american oil cartel. theres a fortune in failure. this letter to barack is is a joke….. right?
MechanicLocator.com – fix yourself
It’s not a matter of WHO but a matter of WHAT.
Leave it to a tech blog to perpetuate the idea that Silicon Valley has all the answers. I’m by no means a believer in the Big 3, but come on. Last time I checked, Toyota didn’t need help from SV. So, perhaps it is true that new leadership is needed, but I doubt SV is the answer. I’m a software engineer myself and all I can think of this letter is: How arrogant.
VCs and ‘visionary’ dickheads like douchebag up there don’t code either. They just pump their rich boy network, hang out with cigar smoking hacks like Assington to promote their shit, and later feel so full of themselves that they right open letters to the president.
Holy shit, the ego on that moron.
Toyota is doing horrible. Turn on the TV…
When you turn the hand dryers off in the bathroom at all your manufacturing plants, your in pain. Yes, Toyota did this.
The entire country of Japan is struggling because no one is buying cars anymore. Japan will have another lost decade if things don’t turn around soon.
Check your facts, Toyota is doing better then most in during this downturn.
There are a lot of good points in the letter about transforming the way cars are designed, built, fueled and sold, and about finding leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit.
However, I find it almost silly to suggest Steve Jobs for the “position” (and not because of his health). One of the things that makes Jobs such a success with Apple is his fanatic passion for computing, UI, and consumer electronics, and making innovations within these spaces. I know nothing of his passion for automobiles, whether he likes them or not. Does anyone know how much he cares about auto design on the same level as he does a music player?
Passion for the subject of your business is one of the most important facets of a great leader. The current auto execs love automobiles but what they are missing is the spirit of serious innovation. You’ve got to find someone with both those qualities, and not just take an innovator from one industry and drop them into another.
Steve Jobs is an innovator, I would suggest more of a thief than an innovator as everything he has introduced has already been made and sometimes better. The MAC was just a closed system, with the front end taken from PARC, OSX is just darwin with a pretty interface, and the i-pod is the Creative Labs ZEN better marketed. None of these are innovations, they are just common electronics being retooled. As an Apple technician I can tell you that at one time they had 25 different models all with the same processor just different motherboards and power supplies.
“As an Apple technician I can tell you that at one time they had 25 different models all with the same processor just different motherboards and power supplies.”
Hmmm…Sounds pretty similar to GM. No? Except people actually buy Apple products.
Classic
unless you change the way management on big 3 think, nothing will come good.
I totally disagree with the fact that someone from Silicon valley should work in the auto-industry. It is like putting a person who has worked their whole life as a car salesman to be a farmer.
Exactly. If we want to have a productive conversation about new leadership. Find some “car people.” I’d start by looking around NASCAR and, dare I say it, Toyota. Seems to me, there must be better management there.
LOL and what about farmers?
I assume that’s your job.
What the car industry needs is a reminder of the way they treated innovators in the past. Required viewing:
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Flash of Genius
If the computer industry had that sort thing to deal with we’d still be using IBM mainframes with green screens.
how about we let the market decide who should run the american auto industry, just as it decided steve jobs should run apple.
The “market” once fired Steve Jobs.
and it brought him back when Apple purchased NeXT
Ian, the “car industry” is not the problem. There are successful car companies, there are just foreign ones. That’s the problem.
Steve Jobs is not God.
These theoretical fairytale scenarios are annoying because they accomplish nothing.
A change of leadership is clearly needed. However, Steve Jobs is definitely not up for the job.
Come on, people. He said, “A Steve Jobs,” not “The Steve Jobs.”
He repeatedly states concerns with ‘Steve Jobs’ health. This led me to the conclusion that he’s speaking quite literally about ‘The Steve Jobs’.
The bottom line is clearly that we need a Jobs-like figurehead to transform the auto industry. Along those lines, I completely agree.
I believe Shai Agassi is going to play a key role in the future of the auto industry.
Totally agree – the auto industry already has its Steve Jobs in Agassi, they just need to start listening to him. His vision may not be perfect, but it’s light years ahead of any existing model.
Normally I would just scoff at something like this but if you think about it, it’s true. the main problem that the auto industry has is that they don’t build things people want. That is Jobs’ strength. The company has a problem with reputation, design, & technology intergration. These are things that all changed under Jobs’ tenure. He may not know a lot about cars but that’s not important. Leadership is. It works from the top down and inthe leader to pick the right people for the job. I guarantee within 10 years under Jobs that the world would envy the automobiles he would make.
The only problem is that he is probably he is too sick to take the job.
The main problem with the American car companies is that they built some pretty crappy cars in the 70’s and 80’s and now there’s a whole generation of buyers who believe if you want the best made cars you buy Honda or Toyota.
They say American cars have vastly improved from those days, but I wouldn’t know, I buy Honda or Toyota.
Oh yeah, American car companies also have to pay for pensions and retirees health care.
and Japanese companies don’t have to pay for pensions and retirees ?
What about putting a french CEO like the one from Nissan/Renault. He took over a foreign company with strong cultural differences and push back from its employees, with a country in not so good shape, he deals with unions in Europe.
As far as I know, Nissan employees now loves him (he was on Japanese public TV for 2hours+ a month back) and Nissan has a much better image on the market.
Not sure GM employees are ready to have a french CEO though…
They have one. His name is Dick Lutz – genius who creates gold wherever he goes.
A czar isn’t the solution – like airlines they need to re-engineer their business model.
please read up on an industry before you make these goofy comments.
What I latched on to was the idea that the same passion for beauty, simplicity, and function could have a place in the re-thinking of American automotive design and manufacturing. Personally, I’d really like to have the same experience with an American-designed car that I did when I switched back to using a Mac a few years ago. The exterior was sleeker, screen was nicer, the touch pad did more, tapping the keys made a pleasurable sound, but best of all, it just *worked*. I realized that there were all these mental hurdles I previously encountered during day-to-day use that I no longer had to go through and it was freeing.
The last few times I’ve rented a car, I’ve been given something made by the big 3, and each experience reaffirms the stereotype of American cars: large, ugly, cheaply made, and lacking punch when and where it counts.
I trained as an industrial designer, but have been in web/software for 12 years – I have to say, after reading this article, I ponder jumping back in…
I don’t believe for a minute that Steve Jobs would be the best guy to raise the car industry out of its crisis or any of the other two guys Mr. Dagres mentioned to fill the position for that matter. They are good in their industries (which I am apart of), but not everyone can bring their specialties to the fore in other industries. Especially such wildly different in scope and concepts as these are.
However, I do agree that the management does need to be replaced even considering other major economic factors that have contributed to the auto industries downfall.
I believe that we need to make a draconian effort to find a Preston Tucker and give him/her our full backing as a nation.
The last thing the Big-3 needs is more expensive than average cars, backed by lots of marketing.
cars represent the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world. they should not be saved.
I think Jobs is a great ‘model’ for a visionary entrepreneur. I agree with ZingerSteve that he built up a specific knowledge base / skill set to lead a tech company, which may not translate into the transportation sector.
There is a person out there, however, who posesses ideas on: sustainable manufacturing, product design, new energy systems, marketing, global business, and other essential bits of knowledge, and who is the perfect choice.
This is the person who is needed to lead a new auto sector, since the exisiting business and its “leaders” has had its day.
My suggestion is: Put on a search for this person in the same way they look for contestants on ‘American Idol’ and make this a national priority to find this person.
The person might well be someone like the head of IDEO.com .
This may be regarded as the point in economic history when the US “got it right” and continued its prosperity for many more years, or the time that marked “the beginning of the end” of the US as an economic power.
It isn’t about SV, you are missing the point. The last person that can save those companies is someone who is the car industry unless they are the CEO of Toyota or Nissan.
The issue is simple, this is what happens when you let the left brained MBA’s run a company, especially those who have been in the same industry for years. You need right-brainers to decide the strategy and the left brain to follow through with tactics (i.e. design vs. manufacturing). You need someone who can see through the tactics as they don’t matter. Their are several ways to skin a cat. All the great companies are led by those who are right-brained, such as Jobs, Chambers, Neeleman, Branson, etc… . Those companies are going out of business because of the slow economy. Right brained people can see through the details, they don’t matter, and see patterns.
You need cross-pollination of ideas to be great. Every great product is almost always created by bringing in ideas from other companies, check out TRIZ. Every patent can be broken down into one of 40 patterns to making something new. These patterns are what Right-Brainers see or come naturally to the way we think.
Unfortunately society pushes right-brainers out labeling them as screw ups, adhd, etc… Did you know Chambers is Dyslexic, Steve Jobs is ADHD, Neeleman is ADHD, Branson is ADHD/Dyslexic. Its all about seeing in pictures or patterns not in words.
Apparently, the big 3 car manufacturers are none of these. They can’t see patterns in their own history. What happened in the 1970’s, asian car manufacturers brought small cars over and they ignored it until it was to late then played catch up. Here we are again almost 40 years later and they find themselves in the same spot again….ignored hybrids.
These guys are complete idiots.
Look you can try and reason or explain it away, such as unions but that isn’t the issue, they are the scapegoats. Its bad leadership.
If your interested read more adhder . com or flairjax . com
If not, have a chuckle and dismiss me. Go with the Dell’s, Ford’s, GM’s, Sun’s and their leaders who try survive on technical, manufacturing or financial advantage and see how long those last you. Those advantages can all be duplicated.
Obama here is my open letter to run one of the Big 3.
This guy doesn’t have a clue. Its not a product problem, its a business model problem (as a VC he should get that).
The domestics undoubtedly rule the markets when it comes to trucks, which was a way more lucrative market than the car market (and still is on a per unit basis). They strategically let the cars go, because they lose $ on many of the cars they build thanks to the UAW, and they focused on trucks which has served them well through the years.
Today their issues are:
1.They build their distribution system (dealer network) before the interstate highway system was built thus requiring many many more dealers than honda and toyota who came into the market long after. This equates to a much heavier cost structure to distribute.
2. Legacy cost structure due to the UAW which needs to GO! IE: manufacturing cost structure.
New leadership is needed at GM, no doubt. The industry needs HUGE restructuring (from a business model and cost structure) No doubt.
However, the arguments presented here show a deep lack of understanding of the auto industry and what are the issues that caused the problem. If the doctor cant properly diagnose, how can he cure?
my 2 cents on the issue: http://www.driv...-of-the-crisis/
Jared, you win the left-brained thinking award of the day.
It is a product problem. They sell crappy products that break down, are ugly a shit, and appeal to the hillbillies (trucks). Forget Apple the company but if one of the Big 3 actually made a car that was of the quality and design of a Mac product we might actually buy. You can remove the UWA all you want and that is only going to get you so far. They build new car models all the time but they are still crap and still ugly… UWA didn’t tell them to design a crappy ugly ass car did they?
I own an American car 1971 Camaro, but my daily driver is a RX 400h. The big 3 had our attention in the 1960’s and 1970’s but lost in in the 1980’s when they decided to focus on cheaper quality.
The issue is the Big 3 design cars for middle to lower America ( I mean adoption cycles not class). This is the wrong way to go. Its common sense you sell to those who are early adopters because the rest follow early adopters sooner or later ( MySpace, Facebook, Macs, Green Energy, etc…). You can’t start in the middle and hope to get followers, those that do always go out of business.
If your argument was true then Dell should be on top of the world it doesn’t get more streamlined than they were. They build shit products and target middle America now they are slowing dieing.
Nobody is saying build a fancy car and spend lots on marketing. Build a car with sex appeal, with great features (not to many just because you can) that people will actually use 80% of the time and give great customer support.
Oh, and don’t offer the same car in 10 different ways with price range of $38k to $18k. Those driving the $38k car don’t want an $18k version driving around. Whether you like or not people want to be different and want to stand out and they want to be admired so they buy things that do that for them.
Also stop making copycat cars Pontiac G8 ( American made European styling aka BMW ) be original…what an insult “we need to copy BMW”. That is what is wrong with half of American companies. They think they can copy the style and design and increase efficiency. It never works ever for long periods of time. See Dell, Pontiac, Motorola.
Hummer had it right, but went wrong by not focusing on fuel efficiency. Hummer was an original product, original design, original brand, original lifestyle.
You are missing the point. Even if they were building the sexiest cars around they could not sell them at a profit because:
a) their manufacturing costs are too high. They actually lose money to build the cars. The only reason they do so is to meet government regulations with regards to fuel economy.
b) they are weighed down with dealer costs. GM and their 6500 dealers sells about the same amount of cars as toyota and their 1500 or so dealers.
They have not been in the car business, they are in the truck business. Now, yes they need to move into cars, and design better products but without restructuring their costs they will still fail. Just building sexy cars would be like taking aspirin for cancer. May dull the pain but but wont cure you.
Im not saying better cars are not needed, the product cycles will always need to get better and better. Im just saying that is not the root cause of the problem. Until they fix the cost and distribution issues at its true cause they are only delaying the inevitable.
Wrong.
Their management and engineering costs are too high.
“GM has 32,000 U.S. salaried employees”
“…..total North American blue-collar work force, which is currently employing 84,000 people.”
That’s a lil’ top heavy if you ask me.
Much of those MGT numbers are to support the 6500 dealers, thats more 4x the dealers to support than toyota. Yes they have too much up top too… no doubt.
Jared, really you need to wake up you are not making any sense?
Look at your local newspapers on Saturday and it isn’t just because of the economic times. Go find a paper from 1999 or 2000 and look at the discounts US car manufacturers give even in good times. You cannot discount your products price $5000 or more dollars. It makes your product look bad in the market; cheap.
If you have the best looking, best made, and most useful product you don’t need to discount it and shouldn’t discount it. More than likely you won’t need to discount it.
Look at Ford they hired away a couple of the best car designers from Nissan to redesign their pickup line and when those designs came out they looked just like the last model. I bet you if you talk to those two designers they will tell their designs were dumbed down for mid-America crowd. You can’t design for mid-America and be successful.
What you people don’t get is products are all about experience.
I hear what you are saying and agree great product is needed. However, My point is simply that if your cost structure and distribution model is not set up properly to match your strategy and market, than you will not succeed even with great product.
The domestics are not poised, even with great product to be competitive and sustainable in the long run. Thus the argument that “product alone” will save the day is VERY short sighted. Change needs to be much deeper than just bringing in a great product guy.
Look, if apple had 100 years of legacy costs, sold their products with 2,000 less margins (because their costs were that much higher on a per unit basis) AND they were weighed down with more than 4x the distribution costs of their competitors… they would be struggling too. No doubt Steve Jobs is an amazing innovator and would do wonders for innovation in the auto industry, but that alone wouldnt solve the problem.
The issues are much deeper than just product.
PS Your example of the F150 designers is not a good one. That truck has been the best selling truck in America for 30 years running, they may not have changed much but it was still #1 so someone did something right. (Re-emphasizing my point the domestics focus on trucks, and beat all the imports. Cars have not been their focus and yes they have been beat there.)
No, my argument on the F150 is a good one. How much did they discount those trucks to get them sold? How many did they sell during the $3.50 a gallon gas? How many are they selling now? Best selling truck yes, but compared to cars, compared to total vehicle sales?
And I bet those truck sales were to people who always buy trucks and probably most always buy a Ford truck. That is what you don’t understand about Steve Jobs and Apple. They are converting non buyers (PC) into Mac buyers, not just converting them but making them devotees and spokesmen for their products. Its one thing to have a normal F150 buyer tell his friend he loves his truck, but another for the guy who switch from a honda element or toyota (insert car) buyer into a F150 lover who brags about his new truck like he just had sex for the first time and the girl was Holly Berry. For instance, I bet their were people who never owned an SUV or Truck before who bought Hummers, they were converted. Sure Hummer is in trouble now because of fuel, but that excitement converted people, just as the Prius has converted people into Toyota/Hybrid marketing machines.
Here is how you sell more cars Big 3…take those concept cars and actually make them, no not take parts of them and turn out a similar version, actually make it. That excitement people have at the autoshow that is what you need to bottle up that is what you want Americans to feel about your cars.
I felt that way buying my 1971 camaro, my RX 400h, and my wifes BMW 5 series.
PS, let the Big 3 die.
This is probably the most retarded 3rd grader caliber post I have ever read on TechCrunch.
Good thing Akamai had engineers and not executives wiring those CDN server clusters together.
Time to clear the Akamai cache. We have a bad document.
If the car industry had Steve Jobs, all the cars would be silver for the expensive model or white for the cheap model. It would be impossible to find the ignition since they hid it someone because it ruined the aesthetics of the car. The door handles wouldn’t be in the same place as normal cars either. Also you would have to type in your password before it would let you turn, accelerate, brake, or signal to turn. It would also ask you if you were sure you wanted to turn your car off and if you didn’t answer it would leave it running for two minutes.
err, sorry, you can only ride your car on the Apple highway, it’s illegal to ride it in other places.
Yes! Apple takeover of the car industry, what a neat idea! I ‘d love to pay more for a shiny, heavier car that i can only fuel in the Apple Gas Station, that has (finally) patented the wheel.
In fact, i suggest we shape the earth itself to look like a big Apple – this will save all our problems.
What a terrific article! I mean, i like to read tech blogs, but sometimes i also like to feel like a retard.
Why not let Japanese auto makers manage, and Americans can make the cars?
America can’t build cars successfully anymore.
That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Let’s focus on what we are good at.
I can’t believe how so many so called ‘educated’ people could be so ignorant about this issue.
Someone stated, “they don’t build cars people want” – a lie. They DO build them, they are called Big Trucks and SUV’s. People bought them by the boatload. They secretly love them still. But it’s politically incorrect to love a made in America gas guzzling SUV thanks to the environazis.
Speaking of whom, it’s those environazis who have had more to do with the slow slide to oblivion than upper management (or even the Unions which suck ass*) – by the confiscatory rules they’ve managed to put in place by a compliant (liberal/ridiculously stupid) congress. It’s relatively safe to say that car companies spend much more time, energy, and money trying to comply with misguided political posturing than any single other expense. Re-tooling their factories to meet the demands of the environuts is a full time job. Trying to figure out the next draconian limit congress is going to place on them is next. Hell, in California it’s been said that, just like gasoline which has to be refined many different ways to make local counties and officials happy (thus making it much more expensive), the same thing is going to happen to the car companies.
The new rules coming from the envionuts are killing the incentive to even sell a car in California – it will be too expensive. (and get out of your cocoon and just TALK to a trucker that runs loads to California and find out what he thinks about the $12-15,000 retro-fits he has to place on his truck every couple of years because of changing environmental nuttery policy – he’ll tell you how stupid it is… but don’t try to get all high and mighty like you’re smarter and know better – like this stupid letter – you’re likely to get your ass kicked)
This stupid letter leaves out CREDIT. Hey dumbass, the credit crunch affected everything! Including the car industry. People are having a hard time financing anything right now. You think that’s good for the Car industry? You think S. Jobs can come in with a silver wand and get credit flowing again?? Since when?
Lookit – maybe I’m a little out of line – but I haven’t gone overboard. The TRUTH is, it’s going to take the Government getting OUT of the Car business for the car business for American car businesses to succeed again.
And before people, who are obviously smarter, start writing stupid letters to the President (who is in no way on the side of the car industry to begin with as shown by the decision to overturn the block on state regulation in California), maybe they should study the subject a little more, look at the environazis, the credit cruch, and the draconian laws slanted against the car companies in America as opposed to those that ship here …
That’s the bottom line.
*I will concede that management hurt themselves by agreeing over the years to billions in unfunded liabilities to the Unions while allowing their foreign counterparts in the south and the rest of the world keep cost low by remaining mostly Union free.*
1. Oh, I get it, so when people stop wanting to buy US automobiles — that tended to be less safe, less of value, and much less fuel efficient — it’s the American consumers’ faults for bringing down the industry! You’re quite the genius!
2. Environmentalists didn’t cause the spike in oil prices. Pure speculation/betting did. It’s the increase in price last year that drove people to wake up. Your idiocy is sad.
3. Anyway, I’d expect no less idiocy from neocons blabbering and completely making up their own version of reality that fits into some disgusting ideology where you enjoy destroying our environment. Do you even realize that you’re an animal? You’re part of the environment. When you pollute it comes directly back to us, as humans — water, air, soil, food, raising global climate, etc., etc.. But then it affects the poor much more directly; so maybe you don’t give a shit about it.
4. It’s NOT the fault of unions. Try to not cling to your talking points memo for one second. It’s the fault of
A. — Fault of products: US autos having ZERO foresight of the damn obvious: cars w/ better value and fuel efficiency will win out when gas starts going up.
B. — Fault of executives: You’d have to be either braindead, neocon, or a sticking rich executive to be so complacent and negligent in letting one’s company faulter and not compete for the future against Toyota and others. Seriously. Name me ANYONE who didn’t see where this industry was headed should gas start going up in price, as well as the fact that electric vehicles would start becoming viable in the mainstream. We’re talking serious negligence brought on by the fact that they, the executives, were getting their millions either way. That’s what greed can do: bring about total suspension of reality where life becomes one big party and you’re content to produce vehicles that score lower in tests because you think the party will last forever, gas will stay low forever, people will remain ignorant forever and not want to go for more sustainable solutions. Right. Anyone off the damn street YEARS AGO could’ve told you Japanese automakers were winning AND were future-ready.
zx is spot on! Damn those american consumers for bringing down the car market!
None of your liberal emotionalism and crying over the environment can change the facts on the ground – the Truth I presented. When you have no facts, you make them up based on ‘feelings’, but that doesn’t surprise me. Speaking Truth to Power means telling the truth to begin with. Emotional imbalances have nothing to do with the truth.
don’t feed the troll
Just for fun:
Compare these 2 and see maybe why the non-US brands are slightly better off.
http://www.auto...oncept-vehicle/
http://www.auto...icing-released/
You know why the Japanese auto makers are so successful?
Because they’re building cars and not sitting around in their underwear blogging about building cars.
One to grow on * * *
A government is too big if it can reach into a private company and re-arrange the leadership at a whim.
Thomas Friedman proposed this idea last November:
http://www.nyti...12friedman.html
(Read the last para.)
Steve Jobs never faced the problems the auto companies do, namely legacy unions from the peak of US economic dominance. It is simply human nature that takeaways are far more painful and resisted than never-knowns.
Can any CEO solve the problem of busting the auto unions without devastating strikes?
Another problem is the failure of Washington to set an energy policy. Why should Detroit make small cars when Washington won’t tax gasoline because of the effect on voters? Is Steve Jobs the kind of person who could move Congress? I don’t think so.
Steve Jobs would probably have the iCar made in China for maximum profits. A good business solution, but useless for America.
http://online.w...4137994489.html
“The company guards its customers’ identities, although some of them are named in its Chinese-language filings to securities regulators. Hon Hai and its affiliates make products not only for Apple, Nintendo, H-P and Motorola, but also cellphones and parts for Nokia Corp., PlayStation 2 sets for Sony Corp. and computer parts for Dell Inc. Those companies did not dispute their relationship with the manufacturer. Hon Hai is also currently the exclusive supplier of Apple’s iPhones and one of the few makers of iPods, Taiwan-based analysts say. Apple acknowledged that Hon Hai is a supplier but declined to comment further.”
“Why should Detroit make small cars when Washington won’t tax gasoline because of the effect on voters?”
Shame on you. You say that but you wouldn’t last a day in upper Canada or Europe. Not. One. Day.
Please add “a healthy one”
While we are all waiting for the auto industry to reorganize and while we wait for our own microeconomy to revive, we have to drive the same cars and use the same fuel as generations past. The sad thing is that change to more environmentally sound cars and fuel will take a long time and at great cost.
So what can we do in the meantime to save money whenever we drive and help improve our environment? CARPOOL! OK – don’t sneer. I know it’s an old concept that hasn’t worked beyond a few friends and family groups in the past. Why? Because we’re afraid to get into cars with stangers – for good reason. On top of that we don’t want to get stuck somewhere with no way to get home – it’s hard to make last minute changes to our plans. And then there is the money thing – who knows how much a rideshare is worth and besides who wants to act like a taxicab, carrying cash,etc.
I knew all this but decided to take on the challenge to find way out of the dilemma about a year ago, here in the Silicon Valley as a “test site”. Guess what? I found solutions to all these barriers to carpooling and gathered a team of like minded individuals to get the prototype to market. OK – maybe the team doesn’t all have the exact same “green” vision as me but it’s all good. My co-founder has more of the “community” vision – wants to find new ways to build trust.
So anyway, we are close to beta launch of our new service that will transform carpooling finally into a truly viable form of alternative transportation, making driving more efficient while we wait for the scientists to revolutionize batteries – ’cause that is the true roadblock to green tech. Without better batteries hybrid cars have a limited lifespan and the solar and wind energy we farm can’t be stored practically for later use. While we wait for the next Edison, let’s use some of the grass roots options out there.
I don’t want to be lame and plug a business here so I’ll just say that if you want to know a bit more about what solution I’m proposing, see my own blog at http://blogs.zo...ol.com/zoomprez. I look forward to comments.
nice post. great to see innovative, practical thinking.
Nice post.
Keep it Up:)
What a stupid article.
Didn’t Bob Cringely already write this article?
http://www.pbs....207_005508.html
Yes, he did. Seems the entire premise was lifted from Cringely.
The Cringely article is much more thoughtful than the post, which is typical shallow B.S. from a dopey executive type.
There’s a grain of truth to the dopeyness, even so. And that’s the point that you can’t cut or streamline or copy-cat yourself into profitability. You have to get out in front with product. You have to take chances. Like Steve.
Why do people never learn form history? The car industry doesn’t belong in the US anymore, just like the Belgium plan to save the mining industry failed this will also fail because off the simple fact that you cant continue to sell rubbish.
The idea that Steve Jobs could be a saviour for the embattled US auto industry is really asking for too much: It’s as good as asking Jesus Christ to run hell!
Mr. Jobs’s interest and inspiration lies in technology. Therefore, the only car company Mr. Jobs can run is Tesla. Elon Musk should know that by now.
If a change in leadership is what is needed, then the US should think about poaching Sergio Marchionne from Fiat.
In 5 years at the helm he transformed FIAT from the worst performing automaker in the world to one of the most profitable; got USD 2bn from GM to let them get out of a put/call option and bought a third of Chrisler for no money, while at the same time managing to keep italian unions (who are the worst in the world and an embarassment to my country) happy.
Now, of course I hope that Marchionne actually stays at FIAT, but the idea that Jobs shoud run the automotive industry in the States is ludicrous.
I agree with some of the comments above that TC is losing the plot with some very poor articles.
Why are we all driving cars that are designed to make statements about our status? What the hell is with that???
Get some mechanical engineering students – the ones that can field-strip a Pontiac in their sleep; some electrical engineers – the ones that can put a modulated current through anything; and some software engineers – the ones the code OS’s for fun. Put them together and focus on building transportation vehicles not ‘odes to our penis size’.
Passion, talent, clarity of vision – current carmakers have those in pockets but the strategy is tied to a spreadsheet.
Ludicrous. “Articles” like this make me revise my opinion about whether I want to use the internet any more.
hang on.. if SB ran the car companies who would run Apple?
Its all very confusing.
SB = SJ =Steve Jobs… sorry
Insiders know every reason they should not change, and be more of the same, because that has worked for them for past 60-100 years.
But in difficult times we need external consultants who can give out of the box ideas, can bring a miracle.
Mahatma Gandhi, was a external guy(pracing law and civil rights in South Africa), who brought Indian Independence movement the credibility and belief which made it possible, Indian Independence
American Automakers are now neither leaders nor monopolies, they have to innovate or perish, taxpayers wont be paying their bills for long.
oh and by the way I think Stevie should also run the financial services industry
What the car industry needs is to reconvert itself in order to STOP producing useless and polluting cars and start working and producing the next generation PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
Your article suggests to continue to mislead people and push them to buy buy things that have no reason to be produced anymore. This is also true for Apple and for the 90% of the world economy that is producing useless, fragile and polluting things just for the sake of producing them and fooling people into thinking that they really need them.
We need to start focusing on useful, durable and rock-solid things that don’t break and that can give an advantage to ALL the population, with an eye open on future generations.
We cannot continue to act like this. Ancient civilizations left us beautiful cultures and great monuments. We are going to leave to future generations just a pile of rubbish!
Producing the next generation SUV marketed by a car-oriented Steve Jobs is plain craziness.
We must stop! NOW
FM, I agree about the public transportation focus. In the view of the bailout (because they were getting it anyway), I proposed something like this: http://www.rodn...gnon.com/?p=102
Where has this guy been? Tom Friedman of The New York Times said this weeks ago.
Yes, let’s make the guy that makes OVERPRICED gadgets run a car company. Job’s doesn’t make cheap stuff… he has said it over & over. He want’s to have the best product, cost (to a point) is not his concern. He’s not God people… article fail.