Just returned from the dead, and reintroduced to the public markets, General Motors
Just a couple years ago, that's how things were looking. Mere months from declaring bankruptcy, GM was making a last ditch effort to reinvent itself, to go green, develop a wunder-produkt, and recapture the imagination of car-buyers -- and automotive investors. The company's groundbreaking Chevy Volt electric car offered the potential to finally make the internal combustion engine obsolete, or nearly so. But no sooner had GM set a date for introducing the car to potential buyers, than out came China's BYD, recently armed with an investment from Berkshire Hathaway
The little car company that could
It looked like a deathblow for GM, a Cadillac-sized coup de grace. Leapfrogging Toyota's
But if China can invade GM's turf, then turnabout must be fair play, right? On Tuesday, the Detroit Lion announced an electric shocker of its own -- it knows how to export cars too, and intends to make an international play with the Volt. Before 2011 is out, GM promises to begin exporting electric Volts.
It's not saying where to -- not yet -- but considering the size of GM's operations in China these days, I'd be shocked if that isn't one of GM's target markets. And while it's true the Volt will probably cost more than the F3DM, the more Volts get built, the more the efficiencies of scale will begin to shift in GM's favor. Already, General Electric
Will BYD, which has been struggling lately, even be able to pass "Go?" Sound off below.