Good Car = Ugly Car?

The Nissan Cube. The Ugly Duckling that could?


In May of 2008, Nissan announced that it will market an all-electric car in the USA in 2010. It will be an emissions-free, environmentally-friendly car. It will also be small, which isn't surprising, because one assumes that the technology is not yet advanced enough to power a bigger car effectively. I understand that perfectly.

The car will also be ugly. Apparently, the design of choice is likely to be the Nissan Cube. This I will never understand. Why does a good car have to be ugly? Can't we have at least a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down?

I am told that younger, hipper car buyers like these square cars. I don't know about that, but I do see one or two models of the Honda Element in the parking lot at SUNY Oswego, where I work. They are bigger versions of the Nissan Cube pictured above, and they are butt-ugly, in my humble opinion. When you go to the Honda website, there is "young people's" music and they have colorful graphics that feature a skateboard, so obviously the car isn't aimed at old fogies like me. Thank God for that.

But I have two questions. First, in this lousy economy, with credit shrunken down to nothing, are there enough youngsters out there to buy these funky-looking cars? And second, why can't an old bag like me help the environment by buying an all-electric, environmentally-friendly Nissan that looks like my idea of a car? What I mean is, why can't there be one that looks like the Nissan Sentra, even if it is smaller? Yes, those kids are young and hip and all that, but I have money. Why not target me for a change?

Of course, there is another problem. In my part of the world, Oswego, NY, where it is winter for at least five months of the year, and where winter means lots of snow and ice, and where shrinking municipal budgets mean less plowing and sanding, a really small car doesn't look so good. I mean, you can save a lot of money on fuel and help reduce emissions if you leave your car in the garage all winter, but how feasible is that? Besides, I don't need a new car to help the environment in that way; I can just take the bus to work. Not a bad idea, but it won't help the auto industry.

Should GM Go Bankrupt?

I don't imagine there are a lot of people in the world who have warm feelings about General Motors. I know I don't, although I have driven my fair share of GM cars over the years, including my first-ever brand new car, a Pontiac Grand Am. (Most of the paint fell off.) I drove that car into the ground, almost literally, and after that I switched to Nissan. It's doubtful I'll ever turn back. At the present time, I'm driving a 2003 Nissan Sentra that is paid for, and I'm planning to keep on driving it as long as possible. If GM is waiting for me to buy one of their cars, they may as well file for bankruptcy right now.

The fact is, no one wants GM cars anymore. Apparently the company is currently losing $2 billion a month , and GM cars are not leaving the showrooms. At the beginning of the week, GM's tops executives (each in his own private jet) showed up in Washington, DC to ask for a $25 billion bailout, but at that rate of loss, what good would $25 billion be? It doesn't really matter, because Congress sent GM home empty-handed. "Come back when you have a plan," said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. At that rate, they'll never be back.

But if they don't get a bailout, apparently bankruptcy is the only option. Everywhere I look, I see editorials and articles in the media saying that GM should go bankrupt. I think there is a certain element of Schadenfreude in the thought of GM in bankruptcy, but it's hard to say they don't deserve it. The management is lousy and arrogant, the union workers are allegedly overpaid and unproductive, there are far too many GM dealerships, and most of the GM models are big, ugly gas-guzzling monsters. Of course, a lot of Americans enjoy driving big, ugly gas-guzzling monsters. They must, or the Hummer could never have been marketed and sold.

Back in the day, they used to say, "What's good for General Motors is good for the country." Now the question is, if General Motors goes bankrupt, what will happen to the country? How many jobs will be lost? How many business, even industries, will fold up and disappear? Can we really let them go bankrupt? Wouldn't it be better to bail them out with strict conditions that would force them to completely reorganize and redirect themselves? So far, GM apparently has no plan except more of the same. No one changes organizational culture overnight, and getting rid of two of its corporate jets isn't a reorganization plan. And no, guys, the Chevy Volt won't save General Motors.

I don't know what the answer to all of this is, and it's making me crazy. But if I were pressed to make a prediction, it would only take three words: GM is toast.