Sunday, June 19, 2005
Despite its troubles, Motor City isn't run by clueless buffoons
By Daniel Howes / The Detroit News
Fashions come and go, but hating Detroit appears to be timeless.
I don't mean the city of Detroit. I mean its caricature in the national consciousness -- big, Old Economy behemoths that can't compete, don't understand their customers and prop up a big, old union that doesn't see that its world isn't just disappearing. It's gone.
Is it just me, or is the steady bicoastal cheerleading for the demise of Detroit getting real old? Why would it be good or cause for celebration if, say, General Motors Corp. went belly-up?
Or, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote Friday, "If I am rooting for General Motors to go bankrupt and be bought out by Toyota, does that make me a bad person?"
In this town it might, but that's not the point.
The broader point is that Friedman reveals a generally accepted world view -- at least in the bluer states on both coasts -- that Detroit's industrial lifeblood is environmentally irresponsible, hopelessly out of touch and bad for the country. Toyota, an enviably fierce global competitor, is the opposite.
His argument: Toyota's pioneering work in gasoline-electric hybrid powertrains "can help rescue not only our economy from its oil addiction (how about 500 miles per gallon of gasoline?), but also our foreign policy from dependence on Middle Eastern oil autocrats."
I'm all for energy independence and I think the competitive pressure that Toyota's hybrid successes are putting on Detroit is a good thing. But I have a question: What about American industrial independence?
Detroit's automakers are fighting for their lives because competition from Toyota, among others, exposed their weaknesses and forced change -- on the quality of their cars and trucks, on their efficiency and, yes, on their slow response to Toyota's push into hybrid cars and SUVs.
Ford can't build its Escape hybrid SUVs fast enough. Coming, too, are Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute versions. There will be hybrid Fusion and Milan sedans -- five full gas-electric hybrids within the next three years, and more are planned.
GM plans to offer gas-electric hybrid versions of its Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon soon after the launch of its next-generation full-size SUVs early next year.
Another question:
How can Toyota's hybrids pave the way to energy independence if GM has 20 vehicles in its current lineup that get 30 miles per gallon or more? When I drove the Lexus 400h hybrid in May, I barely got more than 25 mpg on the highway.
Another question:
How can Toyota's fleet, impressive as it is, be the gold standard for fuel efficiency if its push into V-8 trucks and SUVs means its truck fuel economy is equal to GM and Ford? The fuel economy of Toyota's U.S.-made passenger cars fell 5.5 mpg in 2003 from the year before, according to government figures.
Wrenching troubles we have in Detroit, yes. Clueless buffoons we aren't, though it'll obviously take more evidence to prove it.
Daniel Howes' column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at (313) 222-2106 or at dchowes@detnews.com.
Despite its troubles, Motor City isn't run by clueless buffoons
By Daniel Howes / The Detroit News
Fashions come and go, but hating Detroit appears to be timeless.
I don't mean the city of Detroit. I mean its caricature in the national consciousness -- big, Old Economy behemoths that can't compete, don't understand their customers and prop up a big, old union that doesn't see that its world isn't just disappearing. It's gone.
Is it just me, or is the steady bicoastal cheerleading for the demise of Detroit getting real old? Why would it be good or cause for celebration if, say, General Motors Corp. went belly-up?
Or, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote Friday, "If I am rooting for General Motors to go bankrupt and be bought out by Toyota, does that make me a bad person?"
In this town it might, but that's not the point.
The broader point is that Friedman reveals a generally accepted world view -- at least in the bluer states on both coasts -- that Detroit's industrial lifeblood is environmentally irresponsible, hopelessly out of touch and bad for the country. Toyota, an enviably fierce global competitor, is the opposite.
His argument: Toyota's pioneering work in gasoline-electric hybrid powertrains "can help rescue not only our economy from its oil addiction (how about 500 miles per gallon of gasoline?), but also our foreign policy from dependence on Middle Eastern oil autocrats."
I'm all for energy independence and I think the competitive pressure that Toyota's hybrid successes are putting on Detroit is a good thing. But I have a question: What about American industrial independence?
Detroit's automakers are fighting for their lives because competition from Toyota, among others, exposed their weaknesses and forced change -- on the quality of their cars and trucks, on their efficiency and, yes, on their slow response to Toyota's push into hybrid cars and SUVs.
Ford can't build its Escape hybrid SUVs fast enough. Coming, too, are Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute versions. There will be hybrid Fusion and Milan sedans -- five full gas-electric hybrids within the next three years, and more are planned.
GM plans to offer gas-electric hybrid versions of its Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon soon after the launch of its next-generation full-size SUVs early next year.
Another question:
How can Toyota's hybrids pave the way to energy independence if GM has 20 vehicles in its current lineup that get 30 miles per gallon or more? When I drove the Lexus 400h hybrid in May, I barely got more than 25 mpg on the highway.
Another question:
How can Toyota's fleet, impressive as it is, be the gold standard for fuel efficiency if its push into V-8 trucks and SUVs means its truck fuel economy is equal to GM and Ford? The fuel economy of Toyota's U.S.-made passenger cars fell 5.5 mpg in 2003 from the year before, according to government figures.
Wrenching troubles we have in Detroit, yes. Clueless buffoons we aren't, though it'll obviously take more evidence to prove it.
Daniel Howes' column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at (313) 222-2106 or at dchowes@detnews.com.
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