Dear GM: Melt Down Your Hummers and Give Us Electric Cars

Editor’s Note: Marc is one of the newest additions to the Gas 2.0 writing team. Welcome Marc!

In between a heavy rotation of aspirin, Tylenol, and Motrin, washed down with the cheapest scotch I could find, I took a few minutes to stop focusing on the ever-imploding economy and my prospects for having a job in six months, to do some problem solving for the world.

According to what anyone of any authority in the United States would have you believe, the collapse of the Big Three automakers (as if they are inextricably linked) would send our economy from the thin patch of ice that it is currently skating on, into the frigid depths to drown. Job loss estimates that I’ve seen range to two and a half million, not much less than one percent of the entire population of the country. It is for this reason, apparently, that Congress will likely throw a lifeline to each of the Big Three, by printing up trainloads (a Hummer might do actually – thanks GM!) of cash and wishing it well (thanks taxpayers!).

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It is said that GM, without assistance, could fail before the end of December. So, I suppose that now would not be a bad time to stop running those Hummer and Cadillac ads, and concentrate on conserving some cash. I remember back in the summer, when there was nothing but optimism surrounding GM. The Volt, as everyone has forgotten by now (especially GM) was going to be the most technologically advanced, most efficient vehicle ever produced. And the best thing about it? It didn’t resemble a GM car at all. Never mind that it wasn’t expected to roll out until 2010.

So by saving GM, Congress can preserve for all of our consuming pleasure, any and all Buicks, Pontiacs (name one), GMCs and other assorted large, heavy, gas-guzzling vehicles. To my understanding, cars that get twenty miles to the gallon, are unreliable, and unattractive, don’t sell too well in this market. Years ago, economists, governments, and even CEOs fighting regulation, referred to a concept, termed by Adam Smith, as the “invisible hand.” Though the concept over time strayed from Smith’s original metaphor, it essentially promoted that market forces, namely consumers, should determine whether a business fails or succeeds. Producers making a good product would thrive, in theory. Those making an inferior product would fall by the wayside.

It’s hard to argue that GM shouldn’t fall by the wayside. They’ve come too far, and accomplished far too little. But perhaps there is a solution. If you’ve been digging under rocks or dynamiting mountains in search of gold or diamonds, you may have noticed that GM actually produces some hybrid vehicles. In fact, one of GM’s few successful vehicles, the Chevy Malibu, is available as a hybrid model. You can buy an Escalade hybrid, or a Saturn Vue hybrid.

Why these vehicles idle noiselessly in obscurity is anyone’s guess. But as part of the agreement to bail out this stubborn and plodding old car company, the government should mandate the company one simple task: Within six months, produce only hybrid or electric vehicles. Leave it to GM to decide which brands to delete, or whether to double its efforts on the Volt. The government can only do so much. GM may choose to leave its redundant brands intact, and the Volt may (following form) become an afterthought to the company’s survival. In any case, eventually the invisible hand will do its work.

Image Credit: gmeurope at Flickr under a Creative Commons License

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