The Cadillac Provoq was introduced at this year’s CES, as the first concept car to premiere at the event in its history.  It’s aimed at being a vehicle to allow GM to show-off its recent “eco-friendly” technologies and gadgetry in a single luxury concept.  Besides being powered by hydrogen fuel cells and lithium ion batteries, it showcases new innovations such as automatic grill-shades and a roof-mounted solar panel to power all vehicle electronics.

According to CNet, the Provoq primarily runs on hydrogen, but uses the battery for peak power output and storing electricity to extend the range when it’s needed.  Like others, the battery can be charged simply by plugging into any wall socket.  With this setup, it’s reported to get up to 300 miles per one tank of hydrogen.  The vehicle also uses GM’s fifth-generation fuel cell which now encompasses far less space than previous versions, allowing for increased interior room and overall storage.

GM is looking to even more alternatives than the traditional E85 initiative it’s already putting in play.  GM has said in the past that adoption of E85 distributorship with stations has taken longer than expected, with only around 1,400 stations in the US carrying it so far.  It already killed the all-electric EV1 a few years ago, so I guess fuel cells is the next viable option.  Probably a good idea if you ask me, it seems to be where the industry is going.

Some other cool innovations being showcased on the Provoq, is OnStar’s new “Stolen Vehicle Slowdown” feature that will actually bring a stolen vehicle to a stop, while saying “This vehicle is being slowed at the request of a law enforcement agency” in a nice calm voice for the thieves.  Also noteworthy were the vehicle-mounted sensors and transponders that will allow future GM vehicles to communicate with other cars and warn of traffic jams and potentially dangerous situations.

There’s an old saying that when the nation’s economy catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia. It’s a whimsical, yet acute, reference to the blue-collar city’s long dependence on manufacturing automobiles.

Extending the expression a step further, what’s bad for automakers is worse for golf.

Not long ago, American car companies supported golf perhaps more than any other industry. They sponsored tournaments and top players, used the game for hospitality and outings, built golf courses and filled membership rolls.

Such practices have ceased, and current headlines remind us why: Ford has lost $15 billion in the past two years. General Motors’ stock price hit a 54-year low in July. Chrysler, too, is revamping after heavy losses. If current sales trends continue, all three companies will be surpassed by Japanese automaker Toyota, which this year is expected to end GM’s 77-year reign as the world’s largest car company in sales.

Perhaps nothing underscores the divorce between carmakers and golf more than the USGA’s recent effort to find an auto sponsor. When Detroit’s Big 3 passed on the opportunity, the USGA for the first time in its history tabbed an import – Lexus – as its “official car.”

The auto industry’s withdrawal doesn’t stop there. A look at its decline in golf:

• For more than a decade, Cadillac was affiliated with senior golf. From 1990 to 2000, it backed the Cadillac Series, a seasonlong competition, and served as title sponsor of the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic.

Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Fred Couples all sported the carmaker’s wreath-and-crest logo as members of “Team Cadillac.” And for more than 30 years until 2001, Cadillac supported the Masters television broadcast as one of the tournament’s primary advertisers. Today, Cadillac has no involvement in the game.

• Buick was the first to realize the marketing and sales opportunities that tournament sponsorship presented. As part of a plan to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of its corporate parent, GM, the automaker conceived the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich., in 1958.

Buick was the PGA Tour’s first title sponsor, and the 50-year relationship makes it the Tour’s longest-running partner. Buick also has sponsored the Buick Invitational in San Diego since 1992, is the official car of the PGA Tour and PGA of America, and pays Tiger Woods to be its marquee spokesman.

“Golf is in our DNA,” says Larry Peck, Buick golf marketing manager. Nevertheless, marketing budget cuts have forced it to drop title sponsorship of two other Tour events. Just five years ago, 11 Tour events were sponsored by automotive companies, accounting for more than one in three Tour events that had a title sponsor. Today, carmakers are responsible for six events, representing less than one in five tournaments with title sponsors.

• Chrysler has cut back from four events to one (the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic), and Ford has downsized its commitment to the game. It dropped the Ford Championship at Doral, the Ford Senior Players Championship at TPC Michigan and its relationship with Phil Mickelson.

Losing support from one of its largest sponsorship categories has forced the Tour to other sources. When Chrysler exited its Tampa, Fla., stop in 2006, the Tour plugged the gap first with a two-year deal with PODS, a moving and storage company, and a new partner beginning next season, Transitions Optical.

“We’ve had to diversify,” says Jon Podany, the Tour’s senior vice president of business development.

Club membership suffers, too
With their once-vast numbers, executives and employees of carmakers helped pack Detroit-area courses and private clubs. They spiked rounds especially during the summers, the auto industry’s “offseason,” when factories shut down for assembly-line upgrades.

Ford executives tended to be members of the Country Club of Detroit, and GM officials gravitated toward Bloomfield Hills Country Club. Even the United Auto Workers union has its own course: Black Lake Golf Club in Onaway.

TPC Michigan, overlooking Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, hosted the Ford Senior Players Championship for 16 years. Its membership rolls once were filled with Ford employees, too. But Ford’s decline – as well as recent legal changes that no longer make club dues tax deductible – has created vacancies.

In great part because of fewer auto workers, many private clubs are facing a similar fate: Initiation fees have tumbled, and waiting lists exist not for equity members to join clubs, but to quit them.