Auto Industry Action Group

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Comment by ArtByLetters™®©  on January 17, 2009 at 7:12pm

Installation of The New will be the toughest , in order to build new the Permit tenders need to be free the addiction to monies that drive all counties commuinty's cities forward .....


ArtByLetters Beyond2020 N.AmGreenEnergyArmy Artist/Carpenter/Poet/

Comment by Michael on December 5, 2008 at 11:22pm

Hello John
I would like to invite your group to join the group Wanted Patents, New products and stay informed in all the new developments in Green Energy.
Hope to see you all there. Let's all work together on PickensPlan.
Michael
coordinator@wantedpatents.com
http://push.pickensplan.com/group/wantedpatentsprototypesnewproductsinventions/a>

Comment by Tai Robinson on November 29, 2008 at 11:59pm

Drive Clean - Declare Energy Independence

Thank You!
Tai Robinson
www.AmericanFuelVehicles.com
801-201-7370

Comment by John Rake on November 24, 2008 at 2:52pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obs2tAq57j8

General Motors hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Don't need batteries. Store Wind and Solar energy as hydrogen. Either fuel cell to create electrical power, or burn it in Walters OPUS.

Comment by WALTER REED on November 23, 2008 at 9:50pm

Hi Hugh:

You mentioned the extra room it would take for CNG tank in an
SUV, car or pick-up truck. There are answers such as using a different power plant. Example would be the OPUS system as the engine has so great of a direct output torque, that there is no need for a transmission. In fact slave drivers can instead, be directly mount to each wheel, thus eliminating the differential, drive shaft and transmission - leaving ample room for cng tanks without compromising internal space and they will efficiently burn any-fuel including methane, ethanol, hydrogen or bio-fuels. Ends obsolescence and can even be more compactly incorporated into hybrid power plants.

So why hasn't Detroit taken on such breakthroughs - well, you covered most of it. Certainly, the top down, 'bubble isolated' management structure has to go, perhaps replacing the structure as a matrix. Any bailout at this point will just go to pay-off the unions, save the existing management structure and bonuses, and continue 'business as usual'.

Walter

Comment by John Rake on November 23, 2008 at 12:45pm

All very true Hugh. Thank you.

Comment by Hugh Hemington on November 22, 2008 at 9:17am

The mess the "Big 3" find themselves in is the result of a decades of mistakes -- this didn't just happen this year.

The biggest mistake was abandoning long-term planning -- looking ahead and innovating. The pay structures of management focused on short-term results, so that's what they focused on. Short-term thinking led to SUVs instead of fuel-efficient large cargo and passenger vehicles -- they don't have to weigh over 3 tons to carry stuff! It was just cheaper to build on the ancient chassis they already had.

The second mistake was allowing organized labor to become far more powerful than necessary to adequately defend the rights of the workers. We've all heard stories about the grotesque inefficiency mandated by unions to protect jobs. The stories are not union-busting myths! Jobs that are relatively low-skilled, and compensated at rates that are far in excess of the market -- where their competitors are hiring and building products.

The third mistake was a long, painful and destructive disconnection and adversarial relationship between management and labor. In the good years, management took the credit (and the rewards), while labor was generally forgotten. In bad years, management blamed labor and laid off workers (usually taking obscene bonuses for themselves again!). This is a mistake the Japanese have not made, or have made to a lesser degree.

Both sides played a part in the auto industry failure. Management turned arrogance into a science. When people are compensated at a rate that has no corollary to what they produce, their perception of reality, and reality itself are mutually exclusive by necessity.

I feel for everyone losing jobs -- I've been there. But the illusory gravy train promulgated by the UAW clearly accelerated the decline of the U.S. auto industry. Successful business happens when management and labor engage in a symbiotic relationship. In the big 3, management and labor were two snakes attempting to swallow one another!

Comment by John Rake on November 19, 2008 at 12:27pm

Well..my buddies and specifically Rick Waggoner are all getting thier butts kicked in Congress. And as well they should.

Common Rick!!!!!! What are the 3 basic questions that a Bank asks a business that wants to borrow money:

1) How much do you need?
2) What are you going to use it for?
3) When are you going to pay it back?

CEO of a large Corporation should have anticipated these questions. And he couldn't satisfactorily answer any of them.

Congress: "When is your Union contract up for negotiation and can that date be accellerate?"

Wagonner: I don't know.

Congress: How many different vehicle platforms does GM produce?

Wagonner: Not sure.

Give him one thing.....he managed to remain arrogant during the entire process...very charming.

Brace yourselves....this is going to hurt!!!!

Comment by John Rake on November 18, 2008 at 2:33pm

Thanks Jeffrey, yes I did see it and read it. Very small % of the total plant capacity will be CNG vehicle, but it makes a statement doesn't it.

Wanted everyone to see an article about myth's and the Big 3. They still possess an incredible market share worldwide. Very much worth propping up and restructuring without the bloodbath of a Ch.11.

Big3myths.pdf

Comment by John Rake on November 18, 2008 at 11:56am

Thank you for the post Dave. Welcome back to the Big D!!!

I think anything that get's greater MPG (and sells) helps the both the Autos and the Plan. The NG tanks take up a lot of space in a vehicle, so the SUV's would lose a little bit of "U", but I like your way of thinking.

Keep in mind; the autos play somewhat in the larger more “trucky” space which is where Boone wants the NG to go to get the numbers. What the autos have is the in place assets and infrastructure worth saving; and which can be made profitable, in the new green economy which means hybrids, electrics, Bio-fuels, the whole gambit.

But to answer your question, CNG contributes a piece of the solution, but the entire Pickens Plan and getting off foreign oil altogether helps the auto industry to a greater degree.

Would you buy stock in a restructured General Motors with a completely new and competitive cost structure, and a commitment to alternative fuel power trains, and the loving support of an entire nation also wanting "Anything American"?

I would.

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