With the US auto industry on the edge and waiting for a multi-billion dollar bail-out, it is still unsure whether this will be enough to save the big three manufacturers. If only they had looked into the future and listened to their R&D and design teams. Hindsight is a great thing. The European and Asian manufacturers are leading the way, for example BMW showed the Mini E at the LA Motor Show (see post on 1 November). We'll have to wait another two years for GM's Volt, the Mini E is in showrooms next year and it already has three times the predicted range of the Volt.
An article in the weekend's Guardian also revealed a prediction into how we will perceive and use cars in the near future. Leading sociologist John Urry suggests that "... the system founded on automobility must change. Cars will cease to become status symbols, instead they will become utilitarian instruments of collective mobility". You can see this trend happening already with the increase of electric cars on the road and the popularity of car pools & car clubs, especially in big cities.
Car companies, their brands and their designers have a very challenging time ahead. Car owners too now have some important decisions to make.
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