CorpComms Magazine

It's hard to decide which is more ridiculous, the fact that Ford, Chrysler and General Motors executives flew from Detroit to Washington DC in separate private jets several weeks ago to beg for billions of dollars of federal loans, or that they recently decided to make the same journey by car when they appeared before Congress again to restate their case.

Travelling nine hours to a meeting seems a complete waste of time for chief executives who claim that their companies are on the brink of collapse. As Liz Peek, a Fox News columnist, put it: 'I'd like to propose one cost-cutting measure for the Big Three: Fire your public relations outfits. They are, to put it mildly, not getting the job done.'

But perhaps the 500 mile road trip through four states was actually a stroke of PR genius. What better way to show off your green vehicles that will make the American automotive industry viable once again than when you are being pursued down the highway by journalists? Ford chief executive Alan Mulally was the first to announce he was driving to DC and spoke to reporters from the road as he drove his Ford Escape Hybrid SUV to the capital. Not to be outdone, Rick Wagoner, his peer at General Motors, also did some interviews en route, but used no less than four different cars for the journey.

He recently appeared on the front page of the New York Times in his black hybrid Chevrolet Malibu, in a photograph taken as he motored to the Washington hearing, but his convoy also included a Buick Lucerne, which runs on ethanol, and a Chevy Cobalt XFE, GM's highest mileage vehicle. Wagoner even drove the last few miles from his hotel in Washington to Congress in a prototype electric Chevrolet Volt.

It's not clear whether the four-car strategy will save Wagoner's job, or the long term future of GM. It's still less clear what message the Chrysler PR team were going for when they put CEO Bob Nardelli in a Chrysler Aspen Hybrid SUV for the ride to the capital. Production will be halted on all Chrysler's hybrid models, including the Aspen, by the end of the month.

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