Re: Fw: History of Jeep and the Jeep Liberty (diesel)

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005, Sandwich Maker wrote:

> the auto cos and the oil cos have -massive- investments in the way
> things are done now, and in the name of the holy bottom line they will
> dig their claws in and resist every attempt to be shifted.  they'll be
> glad to spend govt grant money, but imho we'll be lucky to see h2 cars
> or fuel cell cars in our garages in our lifetimes.  biodiesel is a
> renewable fuel we can make now, and anything that burns #2 diesel can
> be converted just by pouring it into the tank.  which means an end run
> around the industry - if we can just get them to sell us the models
> they already make for foreign markets...

I wish you were wrong, but you're probably right :-)

The concept of corporate growth is insane -- it's a 19th century
concept of new-frontier always-room-to-grow nonsense. (Eg.
corporations have to get bigger every year else they are
considered dead.) Coupled with quarter to quarter market mentality
the only way to make more next quarter than last, forever, in a
saturated market is to cut corners in quality, deliver less for
more money, etc.  Innovation is a threat to finely-divided markets
(coke vs pepsi my ass).

There may be some way out of this mess but I nor anyone I've
talked to or read about has practical solution.