General Motors has a huge commitment to hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen cars but today announced a loss of $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2005. Some analysts are talking of up to 4 plant closings and 20,000 to 30,000 jobs lost along with the Buick brand. All of this restructuring is necessary for GM to survive but how will it affect their plans to be first in the hydrogen car market? Hydrogen's payoff will be a long time in coming and GM is in need of a market winner in the near term. This can't be good.
Many auto companies are experiencing lowered earnings and in that environment, it's difficult to sustain high long term investment. Hydrogen is definitely long term, so how this will play out remains to be seen. We'll keep an eye on this.
