If you know me at all, you know where I've stood with the Detroit Three, formerly the "Big Three", also known as Ford Motor Corporation, General Motors Corporation, and Chrysler LLC. But if all goes the way the horns are tooting, it may be the year things turn around for them. And it may be the year they and I kiss and make up.
No links, no photos, no blockquotes to this story.
This is just you, and me Ford, GM and Chrysler.
First there was "Who Killed the Electric Car." Google it, you readers shouldn't even need to see the research if you're a progressive, you should have the whole affair memorized. For that matter, you should be fully aware of what General Motors, the company credited with building, then killing EV1 while it was still in the womb, did when they first came to this town. They saw one of the most beautiful, and sophisticated trolley systems for its time in the country and said, "Oh hell no." There was no way they were going to build an auto empire and do it from a major metropolis that didn't even need their product. They had to prove out Henry Ford's theory of a work force that made enough to buy what they built. They wanted every household to get there in a car. So they set about the business of destroying the trolley system. There were vandalisms, cloak and dagger episodes, and full on murder of anyone that got in their way or tried to speak out. And they won.
The three auto companies enjoyed a very long life here in the Motor City. And they provided a very nice living for people, make no mistake about it. People who never finished school and couldn't even read ... could stand on the line and bring home a paycheck, put food on the table, take an ocassional American vacation, and take their family there in an American automobile.
It was the best of times, blah blah blah.
The beginning of the end was the Exxon Valdez oil spill, when an entire nation that was guzzling oil like an alcoholic on New Years Eve watched as the Oil company wreaked havoc on its own customers. We forgave and forgot. But we never looked at the oil rigs and the barrons that brought us our crack the same way again. And each time a story broke that had something to do with oil, it became clearer and clearer...this wasn't going to be a life time marriage. The good times would soon be over.
EV1 was the first test of our mettle. California was trying to break new ground and force General Motors with state laws regulation to stop thinking like an addict and start thinking out of the box. The polls showed Americans were behind them. So GM begrudgingly slapped together a few cogs and rolled their eyes and crapped out what they thought would get the earth-loving liberals off their backs. And when people started buying the piece of crap despite every business prediction that Americans would never get on board, because all they wanted was convenience, comfort, and a fast motor, they were horrified. Americans, unbeknownst to GM ... actually cared more about doing things the right way and moving into the future that just sucking up the dinosaur goo. They had a conscience, the last thing in the world a corporation wants its communities to have.
They killed the eletric car before it had a chance to sprout arms and legs, before the brain was even fully formed and before the heart could pump on its own.
Arrianna Huffington built a brand by traveling from talk show to talk show spreading the heretic message that SUVs would soon be an American deadweight that we'd have no choice but cast off and free ourselves. And Auto responded to the movement she started by slapping us in the face with the Hummer.
Then, in the early Ots, Senator Carl Levin began to murmur under his breath that the oil companies were beginning to take advantage of American drivers by jacking up the price of gasoline everytime we got near a driving holiday. "Oil Companies don't control the price of gasoline" someone shouted. And the country believed that line of shit and moved on as though nothing could be done. Until it got near 5 bucks a gallon. That seemed to be the magic number. And Americans said "Oh hell no" back.
At that time, I began searching and googling for words like "EV", "Electric" and "future cars". To my amazement, there was an entire sub culture out there thinking the same thing! There was a little start up out in California called Tesla who decided they'd do it with the Auto Corp's help or without it. The Zap! vehicles were born, and scooters started to become hot. And Americans got a whiff of something futuristic.
No one could stop us from doing the math. Oil plus car minus time equals...
But when we turned to our own...our Detroit Three...the supposed AMERICAN car companies, what did they say? "Count on us"? "We have an idea"? "Let us take it from here"? No.
They answered with crossovers and it was business as usual.
When Toyota had the kind of success with the Prius like you only see once in a generation, that was the end. They could no longer look us in the eye and pretend like they didn't know what we were talking about. We knew once and for all that there was a sick tryst going on between Auto and Oil and we were sick of it. And the noise we made leading up to the 2006 Presidential election sealed the deal. Whether or not President Barack Obama had any hand in pushing the autos forward into moving toward a greener economy is a matter of debate. Personally, I think it was the economy collapsing that let Ford's life flash in front of their eyes and it woke them up. The point is this:
In 2010 Chevrolet teased the crowd with the Chevy Volt, a clever little scheister that was really nothing more than a better Hybrid. But Americans wanted plugs and batteries.
Ford Motor Company was paying attention this time.
In 2011 Ford introduces the new Ford Focus Electric Hatchback. 100 Miles before you need another charge. Tested. Driven. Proven. And beautiful.
The whole time between the early 2000s and now, I was the Detroit Three's nemesis. I hated them for spitting in our faces. For moving our jobs to China and for building shit. I never missed an opportunity to brag about my Prius, and I never gave an inch when it came to saying a kind word about any one of the "Big Three". I would never buy another Detroit 3 Car, and I would share that declaration with anyone who was listening.
And I knew tons of people who shared that opinion with me, that they fucked us, our own City, and our own Country when they could have shone.
And I firmly believe here and now where I stand as I read these wonderful stories about what is coming to this year's 2011 North American International Auto Show that we had a hand in making it happen.
Oh, don't think for a moment you forgiving bitches who wagged your fingers at us "foreign car drivers" had anything to do with this new renaissance! If it were up to you, we'd still be drinking oil out of a straw. It was the people who threatened to walk, who took the chance on the Japanese brand, who walked into dealerships just to say they WOULDN'T be buying "American" this year that made them see stars.
And so tonight I read the stories, and watch the videos, and marvel at the vids and I can see that Ford Motor Company at least is going there, and there's no room for them to turn back.
It's a done deal. We're going electric. And there's nothing that General Motors or the republicans or anyone else can do to stop it.
All is forgiven Ford Motor company. My next car may very well be the new Ford Focus Electric. Yes, I will pay more for the car because I care about the technology and the planet. And I will brag about how much I love it because there are still two "American" companies dragging their feet, and hoping once again it will just die and go away. They need, more than ever, to feel like the odd men out.
But I'll be keeping my eye on you, Ford Motor Company.
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