January 18, 2006
Ralph Nader is warning the U.S. auto industry that it must "liberate" its engineering and scientific talent if it is to survive. The consumer advocate also charged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "is now a consulting agency to Detroit and federal regulation is essentially dead.
Nader was speaking to a meeting of automobile executives in Detroit. He characterized Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. as "companies of huge bulk, shrinking to be sure, but very autocratic, very hierarchical."
Nader said the auto giants focus on money-making and short-term gains at the expense of technological innovation.
Nader's 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, assailed the U.S. auto industry's record on vehicle safety. The book led to many of today's federal safety laws.
Today's domestic auto executives "are just about the same, except they're more congenial," Nader said comparing Detroits 2005 leadership to the people in charge of the auto industry in 1965.
Tougher federal regulation, Nader said could force domestic automakers to pursue meaningful innovation in such areas as crash prevention and rollover protection that would help them close the technology gap with their Japanese competitors.
