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Futurist Describes Potential Auto Industry Destiny in 21st Century

10 February 1998

Futurist Describes Potential Auto Industry Destiny in 21st Century

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Feb. 10 -- General Motors destroyed by
Chinese mafia?  Ford merging with Boeing and Sony to make automated Personal
Transportation Vehicles?  That's the future Dr. Sheila Ronis, president of The
University Group, Inc., will describe at the Automotive Press Association
luncheon February 17 at the Detroit Athletic Club.
    The luncheon is being sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers
(SAE) to coincide with the 1998 SAE International Congress and Exposition that
will open February 23 in Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan.
    Dr. Ronis is president of The University Group, Inc., a strategic
management, visioning and technical services company located in Birmingham,
Michigan.  She teaches at the University of Detroit Mercy and Oakland
University and has worked for such Detroit area companies as General Motors
Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Detroit Edison.
    In Dr. Ronis' scenario, Chinese automotive suppliers deliver viruses into
every major company system within General Motors.  The result is a giant
systems crash that brings GM to a standstill.
    Ford, on the other hand, is able to merge with Sony and Boeing to produce
a vehicle powered by solar energy that can go anywhere in the solar system.
    Despite her imaginings about life in the 21st century, Dr. Ronis has a
practical message for the corporate world today.
    "Be it 1998 or 2085 the measurement for success will remain the same --
meeting and exceeding the needs of your customers around the world or the
universe," said Dr. Ronis.
    "And the future is here now and will be on display at the upcoming SAE
Congress in Detroit," said Ronis.  "Automotive companies that are interested
in that future should be participating in or attending this event."
    For information on attending the SAE Congress, contact SAE 724-772-7131;
fax: 724-776-0002; email: meetings@sae.org: or visit the SAE website at
http://www.sae.org.  To make reservations for the luncheon, call the APA at
313-937-2518.

SOURCE  Society of Automotive Engineers