Goliath

Last week I was in Nagoya for meetings with an automotive company. The giant industry is suffering. Suffering from the depression of course. But through the talk with some people working there, I found the problem something more structural and elemental than it appears.
What makes a car maker special is that a car needs an engine. Any companies with considerable manufacturing technology can make engines. But when it comes to "good" engines, there are only ten or so makers that can produce commercially viable ones. Japanese car makers are well-known for efficient, silent engines that have brought about myth-like reputation of reliability over every nook and cranny in the world.
The world is changing. All the people are rushing toward eco friendliness. Hybrid cars are so popular that Toyota got 180 thousand bookings for new hybrid cars even before it started to sell. You have to wait 8 months to buy one. Good news for them. It looks like rose-color future is waiting for the company. But things are not so easy. Under this economic recession, they have no choice but to sell ones with a tiny margin. Hardship indeed, but this may be only the beginning of their worry when they look at what's beyond the "hybrid".
Mitshubishi motor company released a full electric car. The most striking fact about it is, of course, electricity drives a car, meaning it does not need a combustion engine. Instead it uses an electric motor. The problem here is, unlike gasoline engine, everybody can buy a good motor, since electric motors are already well matured commodity. You can buy it together with other electric parts including cells and assemble a car. In short, everybody can make one. It doesn't take high-tech automaker to produce. Electric companies like Panasonic, any small venture company, or even electronic retail shops like Yamada-denki might be able to make ones and sell them. It will annihilate the position that has made the current automotive makers special. The previlege that automakers have enjoyed is now dying. This is the time even a giant company dies all too easy. This is the time David kills Goliath.
We may be now witnessing the time of great change as we have got through every time economic depression came in the past. I am not sure what is waiting for us beyond the change. I just look forward to it with more excitement and curiosity than worry.