In one of the more comical and idiotic developments at ineptly-run, nearly-bankrupt GM, the nearby "vehicle" represents the firm's latest attempt to please its newest stakeholder, i.e., Treasury.
As a Wall Street Journal article reported,"General Motors Corp. is teaming with Segway Inc., maker of the upright, self-balancing scooters, to build a new type of two-wheeled vehicle designed to move easily through congested urban streets.
The machine, which GM says it aims to develop by 2012, would run on batteries and use wireless technology to avoid traffic backups and navigate cities.
The struggling auto maker, surviving on a government lifeline, is looking to generate enthusiasm for its increasingly uncertain future ahead of the New York auto show this week.
GM has slashed product-development programs, advertising and spending on auto-show events. But it will take to the streets of Manhattan on Tuesday to show off a prototype of the vehicle, called PUMA, for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility."
Unfortunately, April Fool's day was last week. So we can't dismiss this as a joke. The Journal piece further noted,
"GM didn't say how much the machines would cost, but research chief Larry Burns said owners would spend one-third to one-fourth of the cost of a traditional vehicle.
PUMA would have a range of about 35 miles. GM said it aims to use so-called vehicle-to-vehicle technology to avoid traffic problems and potentially have it navigate itself through city streets."
What's next, bicycled from the former auto-making titan? Maybe those plastic, foot-powered toy cars for your toddler? Because that, too, would be: green, non-carbon-emitting, personal and downsized.
But let's be realistic and serious for a moment. If the PUMA is truly going to cost only a quarter of a normal car, how in the world does this address the financial problems of GM?
They don't even hold the basic patents or rights for the Segway. So their margin on this thing will probably even less than on a small car. Of course, with federal government aid, GM will be forced to assemble it with UAW labor.
Does anyone think the PUMA will be profitable? And at what volumes? Most New Yorker's don't even own cars. Commuters couldn't really drive these things into Manhattan, because they'd be out of juice by the end of the commute.
How about accidents? What happens when the PUMA runs over a pedestrian? Or is creamed by a taxi running an amber light? How would you lock this thing up, or store anything in it? It looks like thieves could just pull a pickup truck next to it, get out and lift the thing into the back of the pickup. Goodbye PUMA.
I don't even want to imagine the insurance rates for owning and driving it in a major US city.
It's a joke. Only not the funny kind. More like the continuingly pathetic sort.
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