OK, so as a species we are a bit more advanced than mice, well arguably anyway, but when you consider just how dependent we are on petroleum in our everyday lives, to suggest that we simply change direction and find a new propulsion (or heaven forbid a new energy source) makes hunting down a new source of cheese, seem like, well, a piece of cake.
The motivational parable, Who Moved My Cheese? featured, of course, four little critters of varying tolerance for change including Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw. Without getting bogged down in the details, the overall theme is particularly fitting for the current sea change in the automotive industry, to say the least.
You can learn an awful lot about an auto company in these times when not only has their cheese been moved, but they have basically just been diagnosed with the industry equivalent of lactose intolerance.
So who in the industry best characterizes a Sniff? or a Haw for that matter? Well, it actually isn’t as clear as one might think. Clearly a company like Toyota is seen as a “green” leader, but when you strip away all of the PR and the fluff, what is their real motivation?
Toyota has certainly brought Hybrid technology to mainstream America (for whatever that’s worth), but they aren’t afraid to use the technology to improve performance rather than improve mileage. And they seem to be more interested in putting celebrities in a Prius than trying to somehow counter industry reports that illustrate how driving a Hummer actually has less of an environmental impact than owning the celebmobile.
On the other hand, when faced with charges of strong arming the EPA, deliberately building gas-guzzlers and attempted stifling of CAFÉ standards, clearly the domestic brands are to auto-enviro-revolution what harpoons are to saving the whales. Having said that, however, a quick check of the GM balance sheet will likely indicate they have, in fact, spent more on developing hydrogen technologies to date than they have on killing the electric car (thanks in part to current exchange rates).
If ever there was a single brand that gets my vote for not only walking the walk, but also not talking the talk for the simple sake of selling a car to Leonardo di Caprio, is Honda Motor Car Company.
Honda has been at the efficiency game for as long as the domestics have been making trunks that will fit two sets of clubs and two bodies. Of all of the companies out there, I think Honda is the best positioned to roll with the punches of a radically changing environment (automotive and otherwise) and do it for the right reasons. Sure they aren’t shy about selling a lot of cars, but they also have had the most fuel efficient fleet for well, ever.
As a matter of fact, Honda has had a hybrid vehicle for so long that it has already been retired to make room for new generations.
So, hybrids, diesels, high efficiency combustion, hydrogen or pedal-power, not all companies are created equal when their bread & butter starts melting the ice caps and they are faced with checking out Rice w/Soy Sauce.
Do the Japanese even bother with a word for daily?
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