Not Motor City's day

First, the Detroit Red Wings lost to Pittsburgh in three overtimes last night, when they might have won the Stanley Cup had they held on in regulation. Wings are still up a game, but it had to be a sad night for Detroit's rabid hockey fans. Perhaps more important nationally from a Michigan standpoint, however, is the news that General Motors plans to close four North American plants given the steep decline in truck and SUV sales, caused by the high price of fuel, etc. Having close ties to the State of Michigan, I have been an observer of the American automobile industry since I graduated from Michigan Tech in 1963. Since then, I've seen many "ups and downs" in the industry, mostly all having been caused in my view by the industry itself. For example, why GM needed to have so many brands (Chevy, Pontiac, etc) all competing with each other for sales is beyond me. Also, it ought to have been obvious to any reasonable person that at some point the price of fuel was going to rise to where it has today, and that smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles were the thing of the future. But, GM and others in their urge to make as much profit NOW over the past ten years or so, decided to cash in on the high demand for rugged trucks and SUVs that gave the owner a sense of power and adventure on the highway and off road. So what if they only got 10-15 mpg highway.Therefore, like they did back during the 1970's fuel shortage, the American automobile industry decides it's time to start focusing on smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles again. I think the "train has already left the station" for the industry this time around, and I doubt it will ever be able to return to its glory days when Detroit was king. Motor City may be a name of the past, who knows.