Why
I might buy GM stock
Friday, October 10, 2008
Cuz
you have to believe in something
In the past I bought a hybrid car when it really didn't
make financial sense. I just don't drive enough. I've
spent the last several years building my life around LA's
public transportation system.
You see, after 9/11, I decided my life could never be the
same. I had to end my foreign oil footprint. Plus, ending
foreign oil dependency would have a huge impact on global
warming.
Still, I needed a new car. So, I bought a hybrid. Not to
gloat. Not because of global warming. Because I believe
only technology will end foreign oil dependency.
Today, I'm thinking about buying stock in GM, even though
it also might not make financial sense.
Why? Have I lost my mind?
Aside from the Chevy
Volt, I've been a pretty heavy critic of GM. Pre-Volt
I wasn't a GM critic. I was a GM-hater. I still don't
think that GM is making all the right moves, but I'll get
back to that in a bit.
I'm thinking about GM stock because I want GM to survive.
I want to see the Chevy Volt become a reality. I want to
see GM reemerge from the ashes of financial apocalypse as
a phoenix of environmental and technological change.
Today, GM is making huge financial moves. Paring all of
the fat. Becoming a clean and mean efficient financial
machine. But that task isn't easy, and it doesn't happen
over night.
Still, financials won't save GM.
GM has to develop products that aren't just as good as the
competition, but better than the competition. That's why,
I assume, GM is building the Chevy Volt, to leapfrog the Toyota
Prius.
But that is a mistake. A Prius and a plug-in Prius are two
different classes of vehicles. Likewise, the Chevy Volt
might be better than a plug-in Prius for many drivers, but
it won't be better than a conventional Prius for all
drivers. Affordability, the ability to plug-in, driving
conditions, etc. will prove that a conventional Prius is a
smarter buy than the Volt for some drivers.
Thus, as a stock holder of GM, perhaps GM will listen to
me.
Challenge the Prius NOW. Put out a Volt next year with a
NiMH battery pack to be followed by a lithium pack. Then
in late 2010, give consumers a choice between a plug-in
Volt, or a conventional Volt.
But challenge the Prius now. Start producing the Volt now.
Of course, that won't be enough for GM to succeed. Still,
GM has a lot of great ideas in the hopper - HCCI,
lithium-powered BAS hybrids, more dual mode hybrids, dual
mode plug-in hybrids, the Chevy Cruze.
Is all that enough?
No.
Yet, I believe that all the chaos in the automotive world
is changing GM today. That GM has now fully realized that
it will never be your daddy's GM again. Never. Change is
inevitable.
And I'm willing to bet that GM has accepted that change.
And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong trying to stand for what I
believe in - that an American company can succeed building
foreign-oil, global warming fighting technology here in
America.
If I believe it, can GM achieve it?
Most recent comments ()
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Dahcredyns
said...
-
otto -
stocks up 32 percent right now. still, that wasn't the
point.
part of the article and buying stock was to advocate
for a NiMH volt, or at least a non-in plug-in Volt to
directly challenge the prius right now.
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Dahcredyns
said...
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mike, noz-
and along those lines, Mike, the Cruze is supposed to
be 40 miles on the highway if i recall correctly.
still, while highway fuel economy is important, i
concur with noz that the future is about city fuel
economy. that's what hybridcarblog is hoping to see
lots more from GM.
and the saturn vue dual mode hybrid is a good example
of that. i think it could be the best hybrid SUV,
period, including 4 cylinder versions. however, that
will come down to price.
nonetheless, i think the one missing piece of gm's
product portfolio is a non-plug-in full hybrid. a GM
hybrid to compete directly with the prius and the
insight.
a $20,000 Saturn hybrid that could challenge the prius
in city fuel economy would have a significant impact
on the way non-GM auto consumers view GM in my
opinion, and it would be a perfect complement to the
Volt.
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Noz
said...
-
Mr. Morrissey,
Highway mileage achievements are not a big deal...try
impressing us with stop and go mileage...where
pollution is more, consumption is more, wear and tear
is more.
Don't exclude that information next time.
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OttotheScourge said...
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dah
I assume, then, that your purchase of GM stock would
be pure charity...a goodwill gesture to a down-and-out
company in need. If "not everything boils down to
money, at least in (your) world," I suggest a
bicycle, a Hummer with an empty tank, a rick-shaw
pulled by Donald Trump, or a Yugo fixerupper. I have
some interest in money, enough, however, not to waste
it on Dorothy's balloon back to Liberal, Kansas.
posted by Dahcredyns at
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