Whoda thunk?

WATB Lutz:

General Motors' product chief, Robert Lutz, vice chairman in charge of global product development, says he's been peppered with comments that the current sales and financial problems are no more than just deserts for the auto industry's lack of foresight.

Not so, says Lutz.

When today's models of big SUVs and pickups were being developed, Lutz says, "There wasn't a petroleum engineer in the world I know of who came remotely close to forecasting this (high oil and gasoline prices). Petroleum at the time was forecast to be $45 to $60 a barrel and pump prices around $2.15, $2.35.

Who could have ever predicted that encouraging single-occupancy commutes in vehicles getting 10 mpg from anti-pedestrian suburbs to downtown areas located 40 miles away might lead to problems? Certainly not the wankers who hyped the threat of small cars to motorists, hybrids to the blind, told us about unpopular public transportation, the evils of regulation, and the pipedream of sustainable development. They had no role in feeding us the milkshake.

"What were we supposed to do, just say, 'We don't beleive any of that,' and quit building profitable trucks?"

Yes! If the industry had spent half the time trying to make some sensible legislative approaches like increased fuel efficiency standards work for them that they did lobbying Congress against this legislation, GM's market capitalization might be still be higher than Mattel's.

And they wonder why we're no longer willing to eat the free-market shit they're feeding us!