GM stock dropped 25% on Monday, as the Space Emperor (or his staff) forced Wagoner out of the CEO slot. Things are looking grimmer than ever for America's Detroit. But meanwhile, I also read this bit of news about a Netherlands-based company that seems to have elected to call itself "Detroit Electric" unironically. They're going to be contracting with the normally Detroitesque (meaning perennially loss-making) Malaysian state-owned carmaker Proton to make all-electric cars for the EU and eventually US markets.
Wouldn't it be weird and historically ironic if, ultimately, the name "Detroit" became associated not with America's failed car industry but rather a future-oriented European company manufacturing cars in Southeast Asia? Can you imagine, say, 30 years from now, people saying "Detroit" and forgetting that it used to be a major American city noted for automobiles, and referring instead to the latest model from the Dutch-Malaysian enterprise?