If you had asked me a year ago what I thought of the future of the auto industry, I would have given you a pretty bleak answer. Tonight I got to meet someone who could change that. Tonight I met Jay Rogers, CEO of Local Motors. Go to www.local-motors.com to find out more about this company, and pay special attention not to the automobiles, but to the business model they are proposing. The broad strokes go something like this: build limited production automobiles based on designs submitted and voted upon by an internet community in local micro factories around the country (and globe) using techniques and technology with minimal environmental impact. That's a pretty simplified version, but you get the idea. While the automotive giants dig out of their holes, producing appliances for the road, Local Motors is looking to build niche market products in limited quantities, in regional facilities, making the consumer an integral part of the design, development, and build processes. ...
Some charming bits that explain how I got here.