By Bob Gordon and Marc Rauch, Co-Publishers and owners of The Auto Channel. Spacious, roomy, profitable big vehicles; it’s what the people want and it’s what the American car makers want to build. According to all reports in recent years (before the depression really hit), GM, Ford and Chrysler made all the big bucks by making big trucks (and cars and vans and SUVs). Then what’s the problem? Let the people have what they want and let Detroit build only big, fast, powerful automobiles. The problem, of course, is that same old problem(s) that’s been pestering us for the last few decades: The bigger and more powerful the vehicle the more gasoline it uses and the more pollution that spews out. And the more gasoline we use the higher the price of oil and gasoline becomes, which not only lightens our bank accounts, but it enriches the scummy members of OPEC and the gasoline companies.
Anthony Bourdain, a famed travel host and writer, recapped his trip to Detroit in 2013 for his CNN show "Parts Unknown," saying among other things, "Detroit isn't just a national treasure."
White politicians can stop wringing their hands: Chicago s economic diversity, political traditions, and demographic realities will keep it from following in Detroit s footsteps.