GM's En-V Urban Concept
Some years ago we wrote on here that auto manufacturers need to start thinking in terms of being transportation companies and embrace alternative concepts beyond the traditional car. So, about a year ago GM announced a rudimentary Segway-based urban vehicle. Today, they announce a more refined version. This vehicle, while a concept for decades in the future, would sell today. And if GM and other traditional manufacturers don't fill this segment and others, someone else will. The bane of bureaucracy.
Manufacturers need to segment their markets to reach the latent demand of transportation products not met by mass produced automobiles. We pretty much still build automobiles the way Henry Ford built the Model T. ie, You can have every color you want as long as it is black. Today, that statement can be modified to state, you can have any form of transportation you want as long as it has four wheels and a steering wheel.
There is a very reasonable chance demand and manufacturing advances will usher in a new transportation industry with substantial numbers of new competitors in coming decades. Remember one of our posts regarding Wal-mart some years ago was that mass merchandising and mass production were in for a rude awakening as new manufacturing methods, quick change tools, new lower cost manufacturing techniques & technologies and personalization are being introduced into the market place. I no longer need $20 billion to create a transportation startup in the United States to compete with Ford and GM. These legacy business models, while still valid, no longer represent what is achievable with the latest technology. That statement includes both in manufacturing methods and with regards to end product.
Ultimately this type of dynamic will eventually kill the beast that is monopoly in all segments of the economy be it the federal government, banking, computers, mass retailing or whatnot. The only dynamic which is consistent is change. There was once a time when Kmart and Sears were both considered invincible. Wal-mart, as an example, will eventually join these has-beens as yesterday's news as we cited a few years ago. That doesn't mean Wal-mart is going to declare bankruptcy any time in the foreseeable future. If you want to read more on this dynamic, search on Wal-mart in the upper left-hand search box. I can't recall the name of the post right now but you will recognize it when you see it.
Story link here.
Manufacturers need to segment their markets to reach the latent demand of transportation products not met by mass produced automobiles. We pretty much still build automobiles the way Henry Ford built the Model T. ie, You can have every color you want as long as it is black. Today, that statement can be modified to state, you can have any form of transportation you want as long as it has four wheels and a steering wheel.
There is a very reasonable chance demand and manufacturing advances will usher in a new transportation industry with substantial numbers of new competitors in coming decades. Remember one of our posts regarding Wal-mart some years ago was that mass merchandising and mass production were in for a rude awakening as new manufacturing methods, quick change tools, new lower cost manufacturing techniques & technologies and personalization are being introduced into the market place. I no longer need $20 billion to create a transportation startup in the United States to compete with Ford and GM. These legacy business models, while still valid, no longer represent what is achievable with the latest technology. That statement includes both in manufacturing methods and with regards to end product.
Ultimately this type of dynamic will eventually kill the beast that is monopoly in all segments of the economy be it the federal government, banking, computers, mass retailing or whatnot. The only dynamic which is consistent is change. There was once a time when Kmart and Sears were both considered invincible. Wal-mart, as an example, will eventually join these has-beens as yesterday's news as we cited a few years ago. That doesn't mean Wal-mart is going to declare bankruptcy any time in the foreseeable future. If you want to read more on this dynamic, search on Wal-mart in the upper left-hand search box. I can't recall the name of the post right now but you will recognize it when you see it.
Story link here.
<< Home