The Piedmont Triad could create more than 10,000 jobs by designing and manufacturing a high quality, simply designed, inexpensive, fuel efficient, modifiable automobile with interchangeable parts between different model years, like Jeep CJ’s and vintage VW Beetles, except without dealer networks, whose service departments significantly add to the long term costs of owning a car.
A car you can fix by yourself if you had to, that would cost half as much over the auto's life compared to what's currently offered in the manufacturer, dealer and insurance markets.
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Inexpensive, easily replaced after market parts;
If a bumper gets scratched in an accident, a modern automobile's replacement is relatively very expensive and most likely only available at a dealership for a premium, because manufacturers and dealer networks business plans are dependent on the exclusivity of after market parts and labor for profitability.
Designed with a high enough clearance to be worked on without a jack.
Essentially the entire global auto industry's profit margins are dependent on a non-friendly consumer model that can be attacked by an upcoming competitor from a non-union oriented state.
If parts were made to be easily replaced and widely available without specialized "mechanic only" tools, replacement parts would/could cost much less, which would dramatically lower insurance premiums and the long term cost to consumers. The current auto industry's infrastructure and baked in legacy costs could not adapt and compete with an end user, low cost model.
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Easily up-gradable and/or modifiable, which would/could create an active aftermarket for enthusiasts as imagination and enjoyment kick in on something that is the same, but can be made different, catering to individual styles of diverse owners.
Parts could be easily shipped to just about anywhere from the Triad.
Parts could be made in North Carolina or somewhere in the United States if necessary.
As we enter what very much looks like a global recession, auto manufacturing equipment should be relatively inexpensively acquired, as some auto makers succumb to new realities.
For example; "G.M. Will Stop Making Cars in Australia" and where the low cost equipment for a locally based auto company would come from
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Parts;
The Piedmont Triad has the textile manufacturing capacity to supply parts for the interior, the component manufacturing capability to supply electronic and plastic parts, and the transportation infrastructure to bring in what can't be made here until we do.
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Smartphone/tablet instead of installed, in-dash overpriced components;
Would include a plug for a smartphone as a computer instead of an expensive to replace installed system.
As dealer level diagnostics are now available with an app and a hard wire connection to most modern automobiles, owners can save money by knowing what a dealer would charge $100 for. Instead of an engine light alerting the driver of an unknown problem, which has been purposefully designed to increase the profitability of captive dealer networks, creating a system that let's the driver instantly know what the actual problem is would save fix it costs by earlier identification and lower cost part replacement.
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Residents of the municipalities receiving subsidized capital should/could receive a stake;
If taxpayer monies are utilized to create jobs via a automobile company, then individual taxpayers should literally own a share of the company. Citizens who've never owned equity in an entrepreneurial enterprise would have a better understanding of how to create wealth in our community, thereby teaching as many in our area how to "fish".
Financing;
The City of Greensboro can invest about $50,000,000 of more than $200,000,000 in short term securities held off balance sheet, and financially strapped Guilford County can put up the land.
As Guilford County and Greensboro taxpayers should own shares, so can the public.
If Tesla Motors launched its initial public offering and raised $226 million, we can raise 10 times as much for an automobile that could sell 100 times more cars than Tesla, with a category killer idea that may change the future of the global auto manufacturing industry.
I believe we can create somewhere between $3 and $6 billion of direct investment into our community with this strategy, while not increasing outstanding debt.
A category killer, like Apple's smartphone, like Google's search engine, like Amazon's business model, could dramatically increase the Triad's standard of living if everyone involved can own shares of a local company who's value could exponentially increase in the near to long term.
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Human Resources;
Employees could be paid on productivity and profitability and executive pay wouldn’t exceed 25-35 times the average hourly wage. The idea being to maximize the incomes of the employees as much as possible, to create higher rates of economic growth in our community, and not just enrich those at the top.
In other words, a business model that would fight income and wealth inequality that would blow away our current profits to the top execs model of capitalism, which has deteriorated the stability of our corporate greed oriented economy.
Employee pay should be based on performance, quality and profitability, which could make the Piedmont Triad the center of the next era of the auto industry, by paying employees as much as possible within the metrics of a profitable company that would make the existing unsustainable model extinct.
Partner with GTCC for worker education.
Partner with Cone for health care.
George Hartzman
Greensboro
georgehartzman.com
www.facebook.com/Hartzman
1 comment:
This is great!
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