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How to Save the American Car Companies: Forget Detroit

Posted by Hootan Mahallati | January 22, 2009 | In chrysler ford founder's thoughts gm

As a former automotive engineer who spent years working in and around Detroit and a life-long car enthusiast, I take great interest in the state of the global automotive industry and the issues it is facing. As an American, I am concerned by the difficult state in which the US automotive industry finds itself. You see, I do not want to see it fall apart and care what happens to it, even if I think the manufacturers are largely to blame for their own troubles. For too long, they ignored the simple rule of good commerce: building great products. Legacy pension funds and healthcare costs are NOT the only reasons why Detroit is in trouble. And no, Hertz and Avis should not be listed as customers in product design sessions. A few years ago, I rented a Pontiac for work and when I tried to open the door to get out, I cut my finger on the handle’s plastic mould line. As I sat there bleeding, I marveled at how deeply appropriate an analogy for the state of Detroit that one incident was.

Things have changed. The other day, I saw a great-looking Chevy Malibu and to my own shock, found myself wanting one! Ford has been making great cars for a long time….in Europe, and has of late really committed itself to a good American product portfolio. But this is all small talk. I can talk about how GM needs to kill off Buick and Pontiac, and why Chrysler as we know it will cease to exist soon. But I won’t. The problems Detroit faces are complex and sometimes, complex problems require simple solutions. GM and Ford have not asked, but I have my own solution for their long-term survival. I am sorry Chrysler, but this party isn’t for you.

GM and Ford should endow automotive engineering programs at MIT and Stanford, replete with scholarship programs and guaranteed employment for graduates. These programs need to be the most coveted and prestigious at each university. The inauguration of the programs should be attended by President Obama, who should challenge incoming students to make the US car industry the most technologically advanced in the world. There should be an annual Presidential Medal of Achievement for the most prolific graduate. And while he’s at it, the President should instate a policy that once again enables attracting the best international students. Remember H1-B visas? Heard of Silicon Valley? They were not unrelated.

The programs themselves are just a start. The benefactors should set up major R&D centers right across campus. This way, they will incentivize the country’s brightest students to actually think of working in the auto industry to start with, without worrying about having to live in Detroit. No offense to my friends in Michigan, but the dreary matrix of highways and mundane suburban sprawl that is Detroit, topped off by long, dark winters that make you want to drive your car off a bridge, are not exactly the ingredients that will have young, energetic college graduates salivating about their first stint at adult employment. Intellectual competition with software über-nerds while nestled in the idyllic environs of Palo Alto, however, could be just the ticket for that engineer who wants to be different.

The US can no longer compete on manufacturing. Industrialization is a rite of passage for any developing country, and we are past that point. Let a hungry Asia take those tough, dirty jobs that it craves so badly. We need to lead on technology, the way we used to when our national goal was hopping on the moon’s surface. Automotive historians will tell you about the time when American car companies invented electric widows and automatic transmissions, when Mercedes-Benz would have killed to have Cadillac’s reputation for class.

The US can do it again. It can, and should, lead in technology, the way it still does in aerospace and computer science. American engineers, including immigrant engineers, should think big and invent, while the rest of the world assembles the cars. Imagine if GM’s engineers in Boston and Palo Alto met their briefs of making Chevy the undisputed king of alternative technology and fuel efficiency in the US market. What if Ford made the best diesel engines in the US market (mark my words, the day will come when Americans embrace diesel passenger cars). What if they did this while making their cars desirable, reliable and fun? Is this all some idealistic, far-fetched thinking? Yes, and so was going to the moon once upon a time.

7 Comment(s)

Big E | posted 1 year, 6 months ago

So the Americans invented "electric widows", did they? Cadillac DID invent the electric starter motor after some dude got killed trying to start his Caddy using the hand crank. Maybe his wife was an electric widow... Oh yeah, I've always wanted a Chevy Malibu. A 1970 396 / 427 / 454 SS with a 4-speed box in yellow with black SS stripes. American cars were cool back then!

Hootan Mahallati | posted 1 year, 6 months ago

you always did have a soft spot for cubic inches, Big E!

btw, you should submit posts about repairing old Benzes and what not. or even insider knowledge of audi!

Scott Monty | posted 1 year, 6 months ago

Thanks for your suggestions. As someone who just moved from Boston after 20 years there, I can tell you that a winter there (home of MIT) is no sunnier than it is in Southeast Michigan. :)

Here at Ford, Alan Mulally has instituted a "One Ford" plan that includes true globalization of our efforts - so that we can take great ideas, concepts and practices from anywhere in the world and apply them here. We're brining the Ford Fiesta - the award-winning and top-selling car in Europe - here to the U.S. in 2010. The 2010 Ford Taurus was designed using lots of different design cues from around the world.

And we're doing quite well with our technology innovation as well. The SYNC system, developed in conjunction with Microsoft, is now on Version 3 (btw - I was in the SYNC IT development lab last month and witnessed a SYNC-Twitter application, as well as a SYNC-Pandora application). The future is bright.

Finally, about your diesel comment: the reason diesel has yet to take off here in the U.S. like it has in Europe is due to our government's energy policy (or lack of one). Diesel is cheaper than gasoline in Europe, therefore consumers have a reason to want diesel engines. Our EcoBoost engine addresses the need for better fuel efficiency / lower fuel consumption given the situation we're operating in right now.

For more on the diesel situation and Ford's EcoBoost technology, check out this interview that MPG-o-Matic did with a Ford excecutive: http://www.mpgomatic.com/2009/01/21/ford-ecoboost/

Again, great ideas and passion here - keep up the good work, Hootan.

Scott Monty Global Digital Communications Ford Motor Company

Hootan Mahallati | posted 1 year, 6 months ago

Scott,

it's a pleasure to have you comment here, I really appreciate your taking time to post very valid points and facts about Ford. As I alluded here, I'm rooting for you, I used to have many clients in POEE, Cologne and Dunton. And, any company who used to race in F1 is great in my book. Ford has indeed made impressive leaps forward and comes across as a different company.

I did not know about your Twitter feed and glad to find it. I'll try and send some traffic your way so that you engage with more people.

Thank you for the kind words.

Best, Hootan

Big E | posted 1 year, 6 months ago

@Hootan - I could do you a hands-on article on how to change the cambelt on a Porsche 928. It's supposedly the longest cambelt in the history of the automobile and probably an absolute pain in the arse to change in a cold, dark garage... We'll see next week, unless I can persuade someone to change for me!

@Scott - Diesel is currently at about 1,03€/litre in Germany, whereas petrol costs about 1,13€/litre, so the difference isn't that huge. However, modern Diesel engines are somewhat more efficient than petrol engines under most driving circumstances - this is why they are so popular here! My driving-to-work car has a 2-litre turbo Diesel engine with 140 bhp and does 42,5 mpg (yes, I had my calculator out) on average. Or how about a luxury car with a V8 Diesel that will average more than 25 mpg on German Autobahns while regulaly bouncing off the 155 mph limiter? Try getting that kind of mileage in a petrol car. I have. I failed. N.B. Still like petrol engines better myself, but that's another story!

Big E

Hootan Mahallati | posted 1 year, 6 months ago

That would be lovely, especially if you get someone to film you doing it and post it on YouTube! But seriously, the fanatics would love it.

Big E" | posted 1 year, 5 months ago

Hootan, I've found the solution to the problem: "imagine all the workers on the Ford assembly line in Detroit, all of them chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna while bolting on the wheels. Now that would be wonderful. It might help out the auto industry, and probably there would be more decent cars too" - George Harrison

Big E