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An Open Letter to GM Execs

Dear GM Execs,

Might I suggest that rather than taking one of your corporate jets to the next congressional hearing meeting in Washington, that you and your colleagues caravan in the following vehicles. Tuck a well thought out plan for how to take advantage of this unique time of opportunity within the automobile industry into the glove box while you're at it. This is a golden moment to show some pride in the craft that takes place within some divisions in your company.

It's also a chance to sever your far too long standing dependency on truck platforms and inefficient V8 technologies. Hold on to your best and brightest and if they are not already working on the right projects, like the vehicles below, get them going on those programs. Surely producing and launching a new fleet of vehicles like the Volt holds the promise of new jobs for many with new skills.

Such an arrival in Washington will help send a message of "We are working towards innovation". This can only help your request for funding that may be needed to bridge to the time when these innovations can start rolling out. Once you've made your case, why not take a commercial airline flight back to Detroit, preferably on coach, and get back to work. Leave the Volt behind in D.C. and allow some of those in congress to drive it for a few days, experiencing what your company is working on.

What better way to stand behind your plan for moving forward than to stand behind your R&D efforts? Not all initiatives will be perfect yet and that is okay. Undoutedley most in congress would be relieved just to see any sincere efforts towards innovation taking place at this point in time.

If the Volt is not ready for that kind of prototyping of the experience in the real world then that's a shame. It should be by now. Kind of like going to Washington with no vision and asking for funding anyway.

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