WE’VE REACHED PEAK “JUST SHOWING UP.”
By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. All the rage of late has been the debate on whether we’ve reached “peak” car or not, that with the advent of ride sharing, mobility initiatives and ultimately, autonomous vehicles, the personal use of cars and trucks will eventually start to wane. Well, this just in: I’m not buying any of it.
The power of the freedom of mobility is not only alive and well, it is thriving. Get away from the urban centers long enough and it is readily apparent that the lure of the open road is still vital and vibrant. Add to this the fact that younger people starting to have their own families have quickly come to the realization that in order to accomplish all of the things they have to get done – the appointments, the recitals, the sports teams, the errands, etc., etc. – they are required to have their own transportation suited to their specific needs that they can rely on.
But let the pitchfork-wielding anti-car zealots have at it with their half-baked theories and their breathless urgency to force mass transportation solutions down everyone’s throats, because their blind belief that the day we all rely on generic pods to get through life is right around the corner is a fantasy that will go unrequited.
But there is a “peak” going on that has nothing to do with “peak car,” and that is the peak PR banter being generated over upcoming cars both real and imagined. In fact, I’ve never seen anything like it. From breathtaking numbers promised by super cars that don’t even exist (except in the various boutique car companies’ dreams), to promises of unheard-of range and performance by BEVs that haven’t been built yet, just showing up has taken on a new – and undeserved – credibility for these manufacturers.
It goes something like this: A manufacturer envisions a vehicle that will leap small buildings in a single bound (or something like that), with the carbon footprint over the life of the vehicle equivalent to a single decomposing leaf, complete with a promised range of 500 miles on a single charge (or a 250 mph top speed if it’s a supercar, or both, as the case may be), and a sales experience that basically whisks the vehicle to your door with just a signature. Add to this the inexperienced members of the mainstream press who hungrily bite hard on any news that promises unheard of fantastical performance numbers, and you have a recipe for disaster.
PR minions have figured out in this new age of instant communication fueled by the insatiable consumption of the Internet, that the mere mention of a vehicle complete with “projected” performance numbers is enough to generate the kind of buzz that heretofore used to be hard won with quantified substance and in-the-flesh proof of existence.
Now? Manufacturers, from boutique to major, can generate huge impact and dominate the news cycle at least for a few days without even showing anything but a computer-generated image or video promising that The Future will be bright and that their ElectrifiedEight will redefine transportation for the next decade, if not more. It doesn’t matter that actual production timing is sketchy, because those little details seem to escape the mainstream media’s scrutiny every time. And it doesn’t matter that the manufacturer in question didn’t exist until a couple of years ago, because it is immediately assigned a gravitas rivaling an auto manufacturer that has been in business for 100 years, without having produced one vehicle.
This “peak showing up” is seriously out of hand, flat-out crazy in fact. All a manufacturer has to do is craft the right kind of press release with the right kind of visual support and it is immediately considered a player in the industry, just like that. And this is occurring despite seasoned industry observers pointing out that the car company in question either has no cash or is burning through cash at such a prodigious rate that there’s not a chance in hell that an actual vehicle can be produced, let alone a way of selling and servicing them.
There’s little rhyme or reason to what’s going on and not even a shred of reality can be assigned to some of these alleged manufacturers. Here we are almost a quarter of the way through this new century and the concept of “selling air” has taken on a new urgency and a gravitas by default, fueled by people who don’t know any better – and sadly, some who do – this industry has been taken over by Sideshow Bobs looking for a big score based on rumor, conjecture and flimflam.
How will all of this shake out? Just like it has over the last 125 years in this business. Substance eclipses promises, performance supersedes conjecture, and the ability of a manufacturer to design, engineer and develop a product in a timely fashion and with financial realities and deliverables in place always wins.
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.