It's a bear market

Last week I saw a television ad for the Chevy Volt, an electric car design that has been sat on for years and years. Release date is 2010. Too little, too late.

The optical challenge for major American car companies is that they appear to have been doing nothing for too long. Basically their situation is that they've been making vehicles that no one wants for the last 15 years, and now they're looking to stall that failure by asking the government for more money, or go bankrupt. So we see advertisements for an electric car that isn't due out for two years. Not really surprising, but is this the most they can do?

Personally, I hope these major companies go down. I know it will be bad for the economy short term, but have a look at what it would mean long term to give them a loan.

• GM, Ford and Chevrolet will continue to make vehicles no one wants (read: Escalade, Hummer etc)
• Sales will continue to plummet
• The bear market will be preserved because these companies will not be worth investing in as long as their product line remains the same (out of touch with the environment and with the needs and interests of the world)
• The economy will re-crash when these companies finally reach the bottom of the government well

For the Big Three, it may be nice to have a fantasy supply of vehicles that make their ideal target market feel big by being 20 feet long and 8 feet tall - and by using more gasoline than the Queen of Saanich - but these are not vehicles that address the environmental needs or the financial picture of the economy we live in. There is a real world with concrete demands out there. GM, Chevrolet and Ford need to step in with both feet to make their supply match it.

What do you think?