In a story published by Reuters last week, Lutz argued that raising fuel economy standards would unfairly burden Detroit, and alleges (rather cluelessly) that Americans don’t care — they just want their big, powerful trucks and SUVs. Really Bob? Then why do the latest polls indicate that Americans are prioritizing fuel economy and safety more and more – something GM’s giant SUVs don’t provide? Why has Toyota just surpassed GM as the number one auto seller in the world? Why are sales of the largest SUVs continuing to plummet as consumers discover their wallets emptying when volatile gas prices peak?
We’ll still bail them out because GM going belly up would send horrible shockwaves through the economy, but we don’t have to be happy about it when it happens. Ford hasn’t always made good decisions, but they at least have some sense beyond the next quarter.