I’ve written about abandoning Ford as my auto manufacturer of choice after years of letting me down with recalls and lack of innovation but now Ford & GM are asking for a $50 billion dollar loan from tax payers to keep their crummy companies up and running.
I have a suggestion for Ford & GM, you don’t need $50 billion, what you need is to hire some strong leadership with strong vision. Since your executives and board of directors can’t seem to learn new tricks then I’d like to give you some freebie suggestions:
1. All your cars need 300,000 mile FULL WARRANTIES. I don’t care how many years it takes to drive 300k miles, whether 1 year or 20 years, your autos (like Toyota’s) should last forever!
2. Innovate! Innovate! Innovate!
a. All your vehicles should come with built in WiFi. Work out a deal with Sprint, AT&T or whoever to get WiFi standard in each car.
b. After you hook up the WiFi, make my car talk to a network somewhere so I can get useful real-time traffic maps and routing to/from my work/home; I want to get home to my family as quickly as possible after work, help me get closer to my family with these features.
c. Install a small printer on every auto. When I drive up to Wal-greens, have the Wifi locator print a coupon for Wal-greens so I can get some chips and soda at a discount. When I drive up to a movie theater, have it print my tickets to the movie. When I stop at a grocery store, have it print out some coupons to save me money. Instead of asking for $50 billion, do something for ME that saves ME money. Try to stop thinking about your pathetic self for five minutes and think about the lives you’re trying to make better in our society.
d. With WiFi on the car, there is no need for those outdated CD/DVD based GPS systems that are out dated as soon as you drive off the lot. With WiFi, have the latest maps downloaded to my car during my morning commute.
e. Speaking of commute, if I can get WiFi in my car, I’ll have access to stock quotes, company news, weather, e-mail, entertainment, integration with my home and a slew of other things. Oh yeah, I can blog in my car while my wife, friend or family member drives the car.
f. Accessories! Accessories! Accessories! Toyota sends me monthly updates on all the accessories I can get for my Toyota vehicles; what an innovative idea. In the 15 years I owned Fords, I never ONCE got an accessories catalog. Once again, your old geezers don’t understand the “coolness” factor.
3. Fuel efficiency should be priority 1. Were you guys asleep during the oil crunch? Do you think oil will be here forever? Oh wait, you’re too lazy to think about energy innovation which is why Toyota and Honda are eating your lunch and dinner.
4. Stop pretending to be environmentalists. You produce gas guzzling vehicles that burn carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and have done so for the last 100 years, don’t act like you’re saving the world – it’s fake and phony.
5. Get a Clue.