719 Holden's missed opportunity: Autonomous EVs
Some most depressing reading today (SMH), not in the World News ...
where nevertheless an incident in the Migrant Crisis is re-visited: “Picture of my dead son Alan Kurdi on beach did nothing”, says father (SMH); I blogged about little Alan at the time - blog 578
... but in the Business pages: When Joe Hockey coaxed the Abbott government into paving Holden’s road to demise in 2013, he said good bye to 200,000 jobs and about $29 billion of Australia’s gross domestic product.
SMH illustration by Simon Bosch
With excerpts from Mark Hawthorne's article:
The reading is depressing because the silence about the end of local manufacturing has been palpable, not only from the companies, but from governments at state and federal level. Before Christmas Australia's car making industry will be gone.
"It's a fact that Holden hasn't kept pace with what our customers want," Holden managing director Mark Bernhard said. "But the good news for the company, for the staff, is that we know we make money as an importer. And we did that with one of the oldest portfolios of cars in the country. By this time next year, we will have one of the newest portfolios of cars in the country. We will have the pick of GM's best products from around the world. The change is compelling."
So it's no accident that three of the cars Holden unveiled this week in Melbourne are SUVs. Australians now buy almost as many SUVs as passenger cars, and Holden has not been able to compete with Mazda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi in the market. "We now have a range of SUVs that are all new product."
But this is what's so depressing: In Holden’s and the government’s estimation, what Australians want is more of the same. There is no mention of the Elephant In The Room: Electric, self driving cars ... the great disruptive revolution that will change the world (see my blog 710).
200,000 workers clamoring to find employment and $29b foregone. Why oh why - with a Prime Minister extolling just how our country has to be smart, innovative and daring in its development and investments - why does this government not invest some $10b in Holden and help it turn into a manufacturer of autonomous, electric vehicles (EV) ... specifically designed and suited for Australian needs?
Within just ten years the landscape of cars and car ownership will have changed ... but European, US and Chinese self driving cars probably won’t cut it in Australia: Because once out of our cities the distances are huge. And there is one overriding aspect of investing heavily in long distance EVs: It is (once again) mooted to bring a Very Fast Train to Australia’s East coast, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars.
Just think: Self driving EVs … cars, trucks and buses, on straightened, smoothed and generally upgraded high- and freeways connecting local centres as well as the cities, will be a pleasure to get on the road with. Professional drivers, passengers, families, the kids, disabled grandma and Blind Freddie will travel in comfort … reading, working on the computer & the phone, lunching, dining, resting and sleeping. No stopping (unless one wants to) until the destination is efficiently and safely arrived at. And how easy will it be to decide on scenic detours; no time lost, nobody is fatigued; indeed, all & sundry arrive at their destination fresh and relaxed; furthermore, roads will be used 24hrs a day … just think about it.
But our government doesn’t think. Depressing.