GM has seen the writing on the wall. They’re acutely aware that cars are not, and likely cannot be, the future of mobility. Cities are getting more crowded by the day, wages are stagnant, we’ve heard it all before. For people in those large cities, perhaps a small foldable electric bike is the lower-cost future, and GM wants to be there if and when it happens.
GM knows they need to add a new brand to their network in order to get this bike idea to take off, because a Chevrolet with two wheels just doesn’t make sense. It has already come to the table with a pair of concept bikes, one foldable and one compact, but GM doesn’t have a name for the brand yet. The new multi-million dollar brand will receive a crowdsourced name, for which GM is willing to pay the ultimate winner a whopping $10,000.
I hope GM is ready to sort through thousands of terrible potential brand names. And I hope the company has a few backup names in their pocket for the inevitability that hundreds of entrants write Bikey McBikeface.
Here is one idea that I actually really like. Bring back Geo, and make it bikes for some reason.
If you want to enter the contest yourself, you can read more about it and submit your own ideas for consideration at ebikebrandchallenge.com. Unless you feel like it’s a bad idea to provide a multi-billion dollar corporation with an idea for a brand name that will be worth millions of dollars for a mere $10,000 payout. Ultimately, it’s up to you.