The decision of the chief executives of the big three Detroit companies to fly by corporate jet to Washington to seek a federal bail-out two weeks ago must rank as one of the great corporate public relations blunders of our time.
Now, it seems, Rick Wagoner of General Motors and Alan Mulally of Ford are going to waste time by driving themselves to the Capitol to have a second go, while Bob Nardelli of Chrysler is pondering his transport options. According to the Wall Street Journal this morning:
Mulally plans to drive a Ford Escape hybrid . . . Wagoner plans to drive a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid to the hearings, while others in his group will travel in a Chevy Cobalt hybrid and a Buick Lucerne that can run on 85 per cent ethanol, said a GM official. Chrysler said Nardelli — who told Congress last month he would take $1 in salary — has ruled out flying by private jet this time but didn’t say how he would travel.
The big three seem to have swung from the sublime to the ridiculous – who drives from Detroit to DC anyway? – motivated by public relations rather than business logic. If Mr Wagoner really is going to be at the wheel, he will be unable to use a BlackBerry or a mobile phone for several hours.
One could dismiss the affair as a lot of nonsense, but it somehow seems symbolic of the big three’s inability to get things right first time.
Ford’s argument in its business plan, summarised for Congress this morning, is that it is about to catch up with foreign competitors by introducing new engines, bringing its own cars over from Europe etc. But this story – we know we have messed things up but we are about to improve – has been Detroit’s refrain for 20 years.
