Re: will aircars destroy the auto industry?

From: Michael S. Lorrey (mike@datamann.com)
Date: Thu Apr 27 2000 - 15:31:41 MDT


john grigg wrote:

> Mike Lorrey wrote:
> If you magically introduced one of these aircars for a price of about
> $20,000 today, with a production capacity of a million units a year, GM,
> Ford, Toyota, Daimler Chrysler, et al would all be declaring bankruptcy in
> short order
> (end)
>
> Unless of course, they had all at least partially refitted their factories
> to PRODUCE aircars! Then those factories would be busier then ever. Hans
> Moller has been trying very hard to get a big auto maker to partner with him
> so he can have the resources necessary to make the aircar practical and
> affordable but he has had no takers. When trying to do this in the
> aerospace sector a Boeing v.p. told him "we just don't see a large market
> for aircars!" lol!!

My argument is that companies like GM, et al are hamstrung by existing
factories, existing machinery and assembly technology, and by unions that have
prevented them from robotization at just about every turn. There is absolutely
no possible way that an existing manufacturer can make an aircar for that price,
so saying they can 'refit' their factories is a false argument. They would go
broke trying to do it, and they will still wind up with millions of unemployed
auto workers.

> I will say that Moller has kept on pushing back the date of his flight
> testing for his latest four-seater aircar design which is the one he wants
> to mass produce. This is not a good signal to potential investors out there
> but at least he is doing his best to not rush things and really get botched
> results.

Moller's aircar has been stymied by his need for advanced and reliable
compact/light powerplants. He had to buy a rotary engine manufacturer, and dump
money into advancing their engine design and manufacturing to produce the
engines he wanted.

> John Clarke wrote:
> Good! A company stupid enough to be ignorant of advances in its own industry
> and ignores such a historic opportunity should go bankrupt; they're just too
> dumb to live.
> (end)
>
> I agree! It will be very interesting to see how everyone jumps on the
> bandwagon when the aircar is shown to be practical and is being mass
> produced by one of the giants of auto or aerospace manufacturing.

Aint gonna happen unless they break the UAW and the aerospace unions. Neither
one wants robotized assembly, and you won't get affordable aircars any other
way.

>
> Mike lorrey continued:
> and you'd have millions of unionized autoworkers out on the streets
> unemployed.
> (end)
>
> Nope, they would be most likely building aircars!

Using existing facilities, methods, and personnel would not be able to produce
them for a price affordable to the average person. This is the central crux of
my arguement, so your retort is baseless.

>
> John Clarke asked:
> Then who is making all those aircars?
> (end)

Robotized factories employing a small fraction of the number of people that are
employed by the auto makers. Thats the only way to make aircars that are
affordable to the average person. The labor overhead of traditional
humano-centric assembly lines is just too much to make aircars affordable.



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