Hope for the future.

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. Their first product, the Rally Fighter, looks like it could easily be at home on the Baja 1000 or on a less than perfectly paved back road. It is powered by a BMW diesel that will allow its owner to do either while attaining exceptional fuel economy as well, and it looks like nothing else on the road. And the Rally Fighter is just the tip of the iceberg. With future models to be determined by the online community, the possibilities are truly endless. There are submissions for future models ranging from urban-centric EV's to mid-engine diesel sports compacts, and a lot of them look truly amazing.

If ever the car business were to call me back, it would have to be with a company like this. I want to thank Ariel, Sarah, and Jay for the opportunity to ask lots of questions tonight, and wish them continued success with this endeavor.

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Chet Parsons, Car Guy

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