Does GM Encroach On Japan's Green Turf?

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

This is both an interesting and a strange article the The Nikkei [sub] has on GM. First, the interesting part.

While commenting on the fact that GM will jointly develop carbon fiber automobile components with Tokyo-based Teijin, The Nikkei detects a “radical shift in the U.S. auto giant’s business strategy.” The paper comments that GM was once known for its insistence on developing its own technologies. Which, says The Nikkei, played a part in the company’s downfall, because it drove up costs.

“But since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, GM has shown a willingness to work with companies across industries to develop green technologies.

GM agreed with South Korea’s LG Group in August to jointly develop electric vehicles, expanding on previous agreements to procure batteries and work together on electrical systems.

In September, the U.S. automaker signed another electric-vehicle cooperation agreement, this time with China’s SAIC Motor Corp.

Furthermore, GM has a tie-up accord in battery technology with U.S. start-up A123 Systems Inc.”

So far, so good. Ok, so we get it that GM is getting over the “not invented here” thing and reaches out to other partners. This has been going for a while in the whole industry, and is picking up pace. The costs and challenges are simply too great to shoulder alone, the payback too far out.

What is slightly odd is The Nikkei’s conclusion:

“As it moves to tap the strengths of partners around the world, GM may become a major rival of Japanese automakers even in the field of green vehicles.”

Does that mean that Japan’s leading business daily is giving GM no green-cred for past and current work? Does The Nikkei think that Japanese makers hold an exclusive on green cars?

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 19 comments
  • Daveainchina Daveainchina on Dec 09, 2011

    I'm not sure what they mean here. Sure the Japanese are leading in Green tech but I don't think by much. I think that it's too early in the game to really lay claim to being the foregone conclusion for green technologies. And considering the size of GM, shouldn't they always be considered a competitor regardless of which market you are in? I'm a bit confused as to why this is an issue. ie, business is in business to make money, new markets related to core business are opening up, business invests in new markets. To me this is just logical on GM's part.

  • Pch101 Pch101 on Dec 10, 2011
    Does that mean that Japan’s leading business daily is giving GM no green-cred for past and current work? Does The Nikkei think that Japanese makers hold an exclusive on green cars? No, it means that the author believes that GM may do a better of job of bringing these cars to market. GM can focus on designing, assembling and marketing the cars, and rely upon specialized partners and suppliers for some of the components. If the relationships are with the right firms, then that isn't necessarily a bad idea. It's probably more important to have a product that can be retailed than to own 100% of the intellectual property for a product that never comes to market.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next