Tell Your Grandkids You Were There When....

You can tell your grandchildren you were there when the world started to change. You were there when the world started throwing off the shackles of petroleum-based fuel, when the world started moving to fuel-efficient vehicles, FEVs, because it just made sense.

Ford Motor Company told us June 27, 2013 that fuel-efficient products were driving their sales growth.


"Strong demand on the coasts lifts Ford's U.S. market share nearly a full percentage point to 16.2 percent through May, outpacing all competitors," according to  Ford press release.

Ford's overall growth spanned the full vehicle lineup; through May, U.S. overall car sales are up 12 percent, utility vehicle sales are up 18 percent, and truck sales are up 11 percent.

The story of a city that fell in love with beer. 
Quenching The Thirst, one of the Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance series of ebook articles and essays now available by clicking here.

"Our gains for the Ford brand in the U.S. are driven by our new products," said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of The Americas. "We are absolutely committed to continuing the aggressive introduction of new products throughout our showroom."

Since the introduction of the new Fiesta three years ago, the Ford brand has achieved the fastest retail share growth of any automotive brand on the west and east coasts combined – up almost 2.5 percentage points compared with 2008 – based on Polk retail registration data. This year, the growth is largely based on share gains for the Ford Escape small utility vehicle and Ford Fusion midsize sedan.

"Ford vehicle technologies are helping to attract new customers and drive growth," said Raj Nair, group vice president, Global Product Development. "SYNC and MyFord Touch are also helping to deliver higher customer satisfaction." 

But what about getting rid of our cars and trucks? Or at the very least, what about parking them much more than we do now. What if Ford, General Motors and Chrysler faded into the history e-books and holograms that were our fantasies in Star Wars but will be your grandchildren's reality in their classrooms, if they even have classrooms. 

Grand Rapids, Michigan is one of America's municipalities that want to be ready for bicycle commuters. There are hundreds now. Could be thousands before you know it.
Here's a link to a story I wrote about that for Crain's Detroit Business.

Grand Rapids is not the city it was when I bought my home here in 2000 and it is a long way from the city it was in 1990 when I moved into this West Michigan community. What happened? That's the story told in Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community, available wherever books are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Abbott Press.

Autographed editions are available at Schuler Books & Music and West Coast Coffee in Grand Rapids, or by going to www.rodkackley.com