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Could GM Be Saved by The Lean Machine?

Author: Mike

Today, when GM announced their bankruptcy filing I had to bring back a post from last year and re-visit the promising vehicle that was presented at EPCOT in the early years. I’m talking about the Lean Machine, a three wheel vehicle concept car that had center stage for years in EPCOT’s World of Motion.

Of all the ideas showcased for millions of visitors, that one vehicle was one that many would have plunked down cash for right there at the gift shop! If just a fraction of us that saw it had bought one, there would be millions on the roads. Imagine how that might have changed things. Sadly, we were never given that opportunity. Zero to sixty in 6.8 seconds, 200 mpg, one seventh of the operating cost, fun to drive… remember that parking scene where it zipped into a space where a car couldn’t fit? (SUVs were trucks driven by construction workers and farm hands back then.)

I found this UC Berkley 1990 Lean Machine Study for the Program on Advanced Technology for the Highway Institute of Transportation Studies by William L. Garrison and Mark E. Pitstick. The report presents a study of the potential for the General Motors Lean Machine in California markets. In particular they were looking at how it could impact congestion and air pollution as well as energy consumption.

So why can’t we buy one today? The report has everything good to say about the potential but one small section may be a key to the demise of this future car concept. It comes down to dealer profits. To quote their findings: ” dealers might not be supportive of marketing. They might see the vehicle as a lower price item than conventional cars and as competing with conventional vehicles in markets. The success of the Lean Machine might negatively affect their long term profit outlook. So one can imagine that it would be in the interest of new vehicle dealers to oppose the marketing of the Lean Machine.”

In other words… bigger cars (SUVs) meant bigger profits. Offering something of that value made the sale of more metal difficult. But that was then. As dealers sit in thier showrooms listening to the sound of crickets, they might think differently now. It may be too late for GM to consider pulling the Lean Machine out of mothballs, but I’d still buy one. How about you?

This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 11:01 am and is filed under Attractions, News, Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.