For World War II buffs, the 1st week of June, especially June 6th will always be D-Day or the Normandy Landing Day when the largest ever invasion force landed on the beaches of Normandy in Southern France that marked the end of Nazi-controlled Europe. Last June 1st would now be etched in American history as the day that American Auto icon, General Motors (GM), the world’s largest corporation declared Chapter 11 or bankruptcy.
There are famous quotations that we should recall to mark the fall of GM. One comes from our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “Those who exalt themselves shall be humbled, while those who humble themselves shall be exalted.” Another quotation is this: “See that you do not step on the people on your way to the top for they are the same people whom you will meet on your way down.”
I’m making some reference to these quotes because in the past, GM’s top executives would often brag, “America is GM, while GM is America”. Indeed, as one of the biggest corporations in the world, GM was literally a parallel to the US government in terms of number of people employed, directly or indirectly. GM was so big that, it was often said that when GM sneezes, America catches cold!
In the early 90s, I was privileged to go to the GM headquarters at the Fisher Building, an art deco style corporate headquarters. Its elevators were so large, a huge Buick or Cadillac could easily fit inside them. Each floor had a GM car on display for visitors to see. But years later, they have since abandoned their old headquarters and moved to 400 Renaissance Center along the banks of the Detroit River on Woodward Avenue.
Coincidentally, the Marriott Detroit is also located in that Renaissance Center where I stayed at the 71st floor during a trip I took a few years ago to attend the opening of the Detroit Northwest Airport Terminal. At the ground floor is like an auto show where all GM products are on display. That GM has declared bankruptcy is the biggest blow to America’s industrial might. At the height of the Depression in the 30s GM was not affected.
GM was actually a merger of the Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Buick automakers and eventually joined by Chevrolet in 1915. Just to name some of the technical innovations by GM, Cadillac, its Luxury brand was the first auto to do away with the hand crank when it put in an electric starter. During World War II, GM shifted its production to the war effort, making amphibious vehicles, planes like the venerable C-47 Dakota and trucks. In the early 1990s GM pioneered the first production of the Electric Car dubbed “EV-1”. In short, GM had the technology, but lacked the foresight to keep their leadership in the auto industry.
Perhaps the problem stemmed upon the fact that the long line of GM’s Chief Executive Officers (CEO) were financial wizards instead of car designers. That meant that cars that GM made were financially viable designs, that met what the US market wanted. Hence when the SUV came into being, it edged out the EV-1 in favor of the gas guzzling SUV, like the Hummer. So GM threw away the electric car to favor what the US auto buyers wanted - huge very American gas guzzling vehicles until the oil crunch became a reality and Americans suddenly woke up to the present realities that America was no longer independent from Arab oil.
While GM has filed for bankruptcy, its new owners, the US Government and the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union are hoping that within 90 days, a new GM will emerge from the old GM that has collapsed under its own financial weight. The famous brand Oldsmobile has been dropped after many decades and hopefully a new fully electric vehicle (not a hybrid) will be made available next year. Perhaps it might be too soon for us to write an epitaph for GM, which US Pres. Barack Obama has dubbed as the “The emblem of the American Spirit and the pillar of the US economy.”
I’m writing about GM because since I was a little boy, my father bought a beautiful 1955 Buick Dynaflo that we kept in the family for many years until we sold it to my uncle, Engr. Salvador Segura. Fifteen years ago, I got this car back from my uncle and placed it in the shop of my brother-in-law. But when he transferred his shop to Mandaue, an enterprising group of crooks towed my car away, making my brother-in-law believe that I hired those people. Yes, the car was carnapped, not to sell it to a buyer, but to break it down for junk money! Let’s hope that GM will recover from its financial debacle and emerge a better and green company that our future industry needs. If and when GM survives, then you can say that the American economy will also survive with it!
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com