Hey Washington (& Detroit), Listen to Seth!

It’s a hard time to be an auto enthusiast. The cars are alright, I guess. But the companies making them are, for the most part, really stupid! I like what’s inherent in Seth’s post about innovation. The monolithic car companies have artificially stifled innovation for decades. In their current incarnation, they should go bankrupt. But before they do, there should be a very efficient automotive startup process — I’m not eager for more people to suffer because of a failing auto industry.

I’ll let Seth explain.

Imagine a world where there were no dealerships — I love the word “disintermediation”! And what if cars were more unique, yet standardised, modular and open source. It may happen if the auto industry comes apart as it seems set to do. Suppliers are already ramped up for that. Many cars’ components are the same (e.g. brakes and electronic components) no matter whose logo sits on the hood. It just needs a market twist, and we’ll have plug-and-play, drag-and-drop automobile manufacturing. You could custom order your next car from a “car store”, and then you could simply swap in a new motor later. Or simply bolt on the replacement to a damaged front end. Or change it from a coupe into a station wagon!

If Canada had a bunch of unused car factories, and a huge labour-force ready and willing, I bet we could make a really great start! I’d love to see a national industry in Canada that leads in sustainability, innovation and general cleverness. But if the government is only talking about bailouts, that’s not going to happen…