It was revealed earlier this month that the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were planning on taking a caravan of Detroit’s most fuel-efficient vehicles to Washington D.C. for their Congressional hearing on December 8th, but the proposal generated so much interest that the automakers have decided to take the caravan to the information superhighway instead.
Since the plan was revealed earlier this month, the automakers have received thousands of requests to join the caravan, creating a logistical nightmare. The caravan’s organizers were also fearful of backlashes by environmental and other groups, making the internet a logical outlet to turn to.
“The outpouring of support was huge,” Jason Vines, Compuware Corp.’s vice president and former chief spokesman for Chrysler LLC, told The Detroit News. “We’ve changed this into a virtual march, in part because we didn’t want to become targets for environmental groups or others.”
The caravan will now take the form of the website TheEngineofDemocracy.com, set to go live this Monday. In addition to the automakers and auto suppliers, the general public will be able to add content to the site, including stories about how the auto industry impacts their lives.
Although the majority of the caravan will now take place online, the automakers will still send 51 people to Washington in cars, each wearing a shirt displaying the total number of jobs the automakers have created in their respective states.
