GM Car Czar Bob Lutz Calls It Quits
GM Car Czar Bob Lutz is calling it quits at the end of the year. Or, as they like to say in the “here’s your golden parachute; see you in Aruba” RenCen echelons, Maximum Bob “will transition to a new role effective April 1, 2009, as Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor.” In other words, we still have MB to kick around until the end of the year or the end of GM, whichever comes first. GM CEO Rick Wagoner was effusive about Lutz’ contribution to the total destruction of GM’s brands—in his own entirely reserved way. “Bob Lutz was already a legendary automotive product guy when he rejoined GM in 2001,” Wagoner’s statement says. “He’s added to that by leading the creation of a string of award-winning vehicles for GM during his time here. His 46 years of experience in the global automotive business have been invaluable to us.” Love that “car guy” stuff. Now, for some more accountant-friendly info . . .
“Concurrent with [Thomas G. Stephens, Vice Chairman – Global Product Development’s] appointment, GM is restructuring its global powertrain group to integrate powertrain functional activities into their respective global GM functions.” Parse that, Mr. Crock of Shit! I think he means that they’re still confused about what they’re building where for whom at what price and (if they’re really brave that day) why.
UPDATE: Lutz pens a farewell post, appropriately titled “You’re Not Rid Of Me Yet” over at Fastlane.
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Since my primary interest is cars, not the car business, I take a somewhat different view (and also can happily skip at least 90% of TTAC's current offerings). Assuming Brother Farago is correct that GM's affliction has long been inoperable, all the Maximum One could really do was try to improve the product. That he has done. The following cars produced in the Lutz era are interesting, entertaining and/or class leading. That doesn't mean flawless. The Miata may be "better" than Solstice or Sky. But the GM twins do infinitely more for the automotive carscape. Pontiac GTO Pontiac G8 Pontiac Solstice and Solstice Coupe Chevrolet Cobalt SS Chevrolet Malibu Chevrolet Traverse 2010 Chevrolet Equinox Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban Chevrolet Silverado/Avalanche Chevrolet Corvette ZO6/ZR1 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Saturn Aura Saturn Sky Saturn Vue Saturn Astra Cadillac CTS and CTS-V 2010 Cadillac SRX Cadillac Escalade Buick Enclave 2010 Buick LaCrosse Add in concepts like the sublime Cadillac Sixteen, CTS coupe, Converj, Beat, Groove and Trax, as well as foreign models like the Chinese Park Avenue and STS, Opel Insignia, etc. And let's not forget the Chevrolet Volt. Whether or not a moonshot initiative is a good or dumbass idea for a company that has long had an upside down balance sheet is not my concern. It's still cool. Just like the Tucker or Avanti or Duesenberg or DeLorean. Purely from the car guy perspective, Lutz has been behind a lot of good to great to amazingly great (ZR1, CTS-V, Sixteen) stuff. To all those who complain that Lutz's progeny failed to save GM, a hearty "whatever" from your humble correspondent. Van Gogh's works didn't sell either. But I'm glad he created them.
Wha? Since when did MB have anything to do with BMW or Ford, at least in the last few decades? I think KatieP has him confused with someone else.
Pontiac GTO - decent but didn't sell, sold @ loss Pontiac G8 - decent but doesn't sell, sold @ loss Pontiac Solstice and Solstice Coupe - roadster is decent but doesn't sell, sells @ loss, coupe not out, reliability nightmare Chevrolet Cobalt SS - niche offshoot of terrible compact Chevrolet Malibu - decent but doesn't sell, just better than the car it replaces Chevrolet Traverse - decent but doesn't sell 2010 Chevrolet Equinox - not out yet... how can this be evaluated? Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban - just better than what it replaced Chevrolet Silverado/Avalanche - just better than what it replaced Chevrolet Corvette ZO6/ZR1 - C6 was developed pre-Lutz, Z06 same, ZR1 not a volume product, doesn't make a cent for GM 2010 Chevrolet Camaro - world's most hyped vehicle, still not for sale though... how can it be evaluated? Saturn Aura - nearly decent, doesn't sell Saturn Sky - see Solstice comments Saturn Vue - nearly decent interior quality, reliability in the dumpster, doesn't sell Saturn Astra - do they actually sell these? What's the point? Cadillac CTS and CTS-V - nearly class-leading, but still not a volume product. The closest he got to greatness. 2010 Cadillac SRX - not out yet... Cadillac Escalade - merely better than its predecessor. Buick Enclave - decent but doesn't sell 2010 Buick LaCrosse - not out yet... I won't even touch on the concept cars. They're concept cars. How do they make money for GM or recover lost market share/stabilize market share? They don't, making them pointless in this context. Especially the V16 Cadillac, which debuted on the eve of $4/gal gas. As others have mentioned, Lutz was supposed to turn the company around, by introducing compelling products that compete with the industry leaders on quality, reliability, consumer consideration, features, etc. The cars he was supposed to have produced were to sell well and be sold at a profit. Next to nothing in the list above meets either of those requirements, let alone both. In my opinion, and in the opinion of most people who know anything about business, that is an outright failure. Some of the cars were decent, yes, but nearly all are ones that we talk about on here (and only we know even exist) being good used buys because they sold so poorly their residuals are even worse than the rental car-inspired GM status quo. Not exactly a successful business proposition, then.
Let us not forget the craptastic current Buick LaCrosse was the first of Lutz' babies. How well did that work out?