At this moment, the cycle has turned against automakers, if in a small but scary way. It’s not that demand will dry up, but what if urbanization, shifting attention to technology and mass transit reduces that sector’s prominence in the coming decades? How can those companies repurpose? From “Transport: Freed From the Wheel,” by Robert Wright in the Financial Times:

“Few believe the evidence points to an imminent divorce between America’s still heavily car-dependent cities and the motor car. But a frosty estrangement is a possibility, says Michael Tamor, a senior executive handling sustainability questions for Ford, the second-biggest US carmaker.

Such fears have prompted both Ford and General Motors, the biggest American carmaker, to discuss publicly whether their future might be as ‘mobility providers.’ This could mean leasing cars for short periods or making electric bikes rather than just building and selling cars.

‘We’re trying to predict where things are going to go,’ Mr Tamor says. ‘Whether or not the automobile remains viable [in future cities], it doesn’t mean it will remain the most favoured transportation mode.’

Mr Fischer recognises that cars will remain vital – hence his support for a $1.4bn bridge across the Ohio River. But within the city itself the priority is to make neighbourhoods more ‘bikeable’ and ‘walkable.’

‘There’s a lot of experimentation going on,’ he says.”