One simply can't ignore the irony in the last two articles I read online today. The first concerns the well-publicized billboard on the 405 freeway in California touting the 100,000,000+ of supposed gallons of gasoline saved through the collective use of Toyota hybrids sold since 2000. The next is an account of the (sure-to-be well publicized) $4.6 million retirement pension secured by GM's Rick Wagoner, essentially ponying up the goods regardless if GM goes belly-up or not.
To be honest, I am growing as tired about covering these two opposing automotive entities as most people are about hearing or reading about them. These recent announcements however, bring up the fascinating idea of the "spin" phenomenon and the PR machine so often reserved for the political industry, so I guess we will have to endure.
Could the news of Mr. Wagoner's retirement compensation package come at any worse a time?
Could the placement of Toyota's billboard come at any better a time?
Well, I for one would think not, on both accounts. Whether or not Mr. Wagoner's tenured and dedicated service to General Motors warrants commensurate compensation or the fact that he is under enormous pressure in a lose-lose situation at a high profile company representing decades of our country's merits in terms of technology and manufacturing is no more relevant than the fact that Toyota's claims may be based on assumptions, rounded figures, and inaccurate EPA ratings.
Alas, the fine print doesn't matter here. GM = Bad, Toyota = Good. At least that is how people are going to see it. Which brings up another question. Did the wheels come off GM merely as a coincidence of when Toyota hit their stride, or are these two divergent paths more closely related?
Let us not forget that both companies are international players in a fairly closed industry, both offering a wide array of automotive products with strategies more similar than you might think. Yet, Toyota basks in the big house while GM sits in the doghouse.
What if by some strange twist of fate, we woke up tomorrow only to learn scientists discovered not only that the long-term disposal of hybrid batteries contaminant groundwater leading to the rampant birth of Ralph Nader types and that the ozone layer in our atmosphere has actually been trapping in harmful gaseous waste meaning the more CO2 we can produce the better.
Well, I guess it wouldn't matter anyway. It’s all about the "machine" that says it. If The US drug companies, New York Times writer turned liar Jayson Blair, and Larry King's attorney can scare Americans into not buying Canadian drugs, then you really need to consider the source of today's messages. By the way, gasoline prices are down to a paltry $2.20 a gallon, the lowest since June.
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