I’ve driven the new Chevy Volt. It’s different from the Prius in that it’s a fully electric car with an electric generator powered by a 1.4-liter gas engine....GM doesn't need engineers, it needs cardiologists, and nurses, and pharmacists. According to this GM retiree healthcare presentation, GM spent 4.6 billion on healthcare in 2007 and every second of every day GM pays for a medical procedure.
It’s fun to see engineers running car companies again, rather than accountants. GM has real engineers in place now...
Just yesterday, the news was that GM was doubling the size of the lab where they develop the batteries for the Volt that Leno is so high on. Total amount spent to double the lab - $8 million. That's million with an "M".
The fact of the matter is that the business model that GM used to build cars, and an American middle class, for many years during the twentieth century has run its course and is now extinct. Cheerleading from a well-intentioned, but seemingly ill-informed native son won't change that. Neither will a government bailout that perpetuates the current way of doing business at the cost of necessary reforms.
