Sorry to be a spoilsport, but Ford’s ballyhooed announcement that buyers of its electric vehicles will have partial access to Tesla’s Supercharger network is yet another reminder of the sorry state of America’s once proud and mighty automakers.
Business
Why Ford’s “Very Gay” Badass Truck Isn’t Woke
A marketing storm is possibly brewing for Ford Motor Co. as a year-old corporate video featuring the company’s Raptor pickup truck it promoted as “very gay” is making the internet rounds, prompting calls for a boycott. Here’s why Ford’s promotion of gay rights and culture isn’t an example of wokeness but rather an unwavering decades-long commitment even when it contributed to the biggest annual loss in the automaker’s history.
The Night the Lights Go Out in America
Americans have developed an expectation that when they flip a light switch, the lights come on. Thanks to Biden Administration policies and legislation in various states, Americans had best prepare themselves for repeated periods of blackouts.
On the reliable energy front, China’s citizens are being served much better.
America’s Unsustainable Wealth Disparity
Some thoughts on America’s growing wealth disparity, why the reported looming bankruptcy of Envision Healthcare merits consideration for the return of guillotines, and the NHTSA’s demand for the recall of 67 million airbags manufactured by Tennessee-based ARC Automotive is potentially a very, very, big deal.
UAW: Rodney Dangerfield of American Labor
The UAW increasingly and deservedly commands little respect, even among its own members. The insulting and instantly rejected contract the union negotiated for workers at a suburban Toledo battery plant is an example of the UAW better serving management interests.
San Francisco: The Detroit of California
If Detroit’s economic history is a guide, the closing of Nordstrom’s massive department store in downtown San Francisco possibly means San Francisco has reached the point of no return. The two cities already share much in common.
Mary Barra: GM’s $29 Million EV Dilettante
Some thoughts on GM CEO Mary Barra’s 2022 compensation and why communist China is mighty proud of the city council in Marshall, Michigan.
Democracy Stands Trial in Marshall, Michigan
The City Council of Marshall in rural Michigan on Monday is scheduled to vote whether to uphold or reject a decision by a Joint Planning Commission to deny a rezoning request that would have allowed Ford Motor Co. to build a lithium battery plant on fertile farmland. A Michigan economic development person is on record as saying it doesn’t matter what the elected officials decide, the plant will get built.
So much for all of Ford’s talk about “building trust” with the communities where it operates.
CEO Hall of Shame: Andi Owen & James Clarke
Social media was aghast last week as leaked videos of Zoom calls revealed the lack of empathy the CEOs of MillerKnoll and Clearlink showed their employees. Observers uniformly blamed the disparity of CEO pay for the insensitivity, but research shows that lack of empathy is among the psychopathic traits that land CEOs their corner offices.
Ford’s F-150 Electric Lightning Flambé Pickups
It’s unimaginable that anyone could still have faith in the Biden Administration’s accelerated plans to force Americans to buy electric vehicles after reading today’s extraordinary report by CNBC auto writer Michael Wayland revealing just how little thought and preparation has gone into the conversion.
Wayland also reveals that when it comes to ensuring that first responders are properly trained to extinguish EV fires, GM is the far more responsible company.