RSS
Home
The Hummer and the Damage Done: why nothing is sacred in the automotive industry
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
"When irony first makes itself known in a young man's life,” wrote the Canadian novelist Robertson Davies, “it can be like his first experience of getting drunk; he has met with a powerful thing which he does not know how to handle.” Now that Hummer has officially been sold off from the largest American automaker to a heavy machinery company from western China with no auto manufacturing experience, this definition of irony seems rather appropriate.
That’s right: the jingoistic, gung-ho America, Eff Yeah brand of patriotism is under the reigns, according to the media outlets most of their owners tend to agree with, of the same pinko Commies out to poison our children and destroy our way of life. The irony is too vast to be captured by words. That oughta take the wind right out of their “Welcome to America, now speak English!” sails, right? In one stunning move, the heretofore-obscure Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company set itself upon the world stage with the help of one of the most infamous automotive companies on Earth. Chinese industry was getting stronger, the pundits noted, but even this caught them off-guard...
If some random automotive scribe had thought up this scenario three years ago, he would have been thrown out of the Cobo Center, literally, through the loading dock by burly Teamsters.
Now more than ever, there are no constants in this ever-changing industry. (After all, who would have seen GM shrink to half its size in the span of less than a year?) That’s something the Hummer buyout taught us. The recession has caused so many upheavals that there’s nothing sacred in the automotive business anymore.
BMW sacrificing its RWD “Ultimate Driving Machine” philosophy for a rebadged Mini? It could happen. Toyota’s three-cylinder supermini being developed into the latest Aston Martin—the Aston Martin? Impossible! A legendary Japanese company with an infallible reputation, suddenly beset by a rash of recalls for which their only recourse lies in zip-ties and hand-wringing? Oh, snap.
Mission statements? Ideological philosophies? Underdogs, ironies, and reputation reversals? They’re all up for grabs. For those of you watching the trials and tribulations of the automotive industry, nothing should surprise you at this point. It’s some strange times we’re living in, and as executives scramble to appeal to every untapped niche, pay lip service to the green movement, and simply attempt to stay afloat, we will see more shakeups and surprises. Hell, the Indian conglomerate that builds the world's cheapest car also own some of the world's most luxurious. And after attempts to secure Saab, Volvo, and even GM and Chrysler, it's clear that Hummer won’t be the last foray from Chinese businesses into the auto industry— not by a long shot.
“Irony is an insult conveyed in the form of a compliment.*” Ford might be bought out by a band of Easter Island pygmies tomorrow, and you won’t see me blink twice.
* Edwin Percy Whipple, essayist and critic. May have drove a BMW.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
