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Old 12-13-2025, 02:05 PM   #29
arpad_m


 
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Drives: 2018 Camaro 2SS A8
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Okay, one more thing, and of course it's another personal take of mine


Toyota recently announced their new GR GT sports car, and here's what their Chairman Akio Toyoda had to say about the company's perception that kept him up at night, leading to the creation of this car that I'm almost sure will not be a profit driver for them:

"I will never forget that feeling of humiliation. I could hear people saying there's no way Toyota could build a car like this, and that pain is the force that drives me to this day."

This attitude right there is what GM people don't seem to want to understand.

No one gives a crap about boring EVs or turbo 4-poppers per se, but if the head of a company has near-obsessive passion and a level of care that transcends the trendy nonsense, the mundane economic/penny-pinching urge above all else and the constant bullshit in an attempt to warp reality or deny problems, people will first notice, then seriously consider "non-halo" vehicles from the same company over alternatives.

Doesn't even matter if a vehicle is ICE or EV, actually, just look at the widespread fan base Tesla has and the now established perception that it's an actually usable and modern vehicle, all because the CEO has relentless passion for something, and that drove the company to smart decisions such as building a charging infrastructure to preempt the #1 sales impediment and objection about their future vehicles.

Sure, sports cars are on the fringe of nearly every automaker, but the way to prevent rot is the protect the fringes, otherwise their "safe mainstream" of today will become the fringe of tomorrow.

The point I'm trying to make is there are visionaries in the world who drive their people to create, to strive and to do better, and there are bean counters who are only good at screwing people over once the visionaries have already produced something worthy of people's attention, even though they do stretch their "runway" with their financial decisions.

If a company lets itself be steered by this second group and stifles the first group, it ultimately ends up in the place where Sears, Commodore, Blackberry and many others are buried for good. Now, instead of that, I think we'd all want a GM that has a vision and respect for their customers.
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