GM Car Czar Bob Lutz Gets Religion: Damaged Brands Suck

Back in ’05, the year that Bob Lutz turned 74 for the first time, GM’s Car Czar called Buick and Pontiac “damaged brands.” Even the Detroit-friendly media seized on Lutz’ remarks as a sign that someone in RenCen had woken-up to the fact that eight is more than enough. It’s too god damn many. But no. B ob was forced to backpedal. “Everyone always says that I was sort of implying we were going to cut Buick and Pontiac. I never said ‘irrevocably damaged’ or ‘irreparably damaged” or ‘terminally damaged.'” And now, Mr. “The threat of bankruptcy is absolutely out of the question” has been forced to backpedal on his backpedaling. Maximum Bob told Automotive News [AN, sub] that “It’s really much better to have fewer brands, do it well and then market the hell out of them.” [Note: you gotta love any article that begins “If General Motors survives its cash-flow crisis…”] Of course, the winner of TTAC’s Bob Lutz Award didn’t hit the heights without hints. To wit: “Lutz declined to indicate exactly what will happen to Saturn and Saab but said business as usual is not an option. ‘They’re under strategic review,’ he said. That’s the corporate code, Lutz said, for: ‘We realize they’re not working, and something needs to be done.'” HUMMER, Saturn and Saab are (nudge nudge) bye-bye but the original damaged brands (Buick and Pontiac) live on? Bob lives is a strange world. Let’s visit!

In Bob’s world, facts are simple and facts are straight and facts will do what he wants them to. “By eliminating nameplates, the automaker can cut the cost of product development and marketing. For example, GM spent about $500 million to develop the Chevrolet Malibu car. Marketing the Malibu cost $200 million or $300 million, Lutz said.”

Wow! That’s a $100m spread! Is it that easy to lose track of $100m at GM? [Hint: that’s a rhetorical question.] But wait! There’s more!

“The Saturn Aura car was developed from the same platform as the Malibu. Does GM need two versions of that same vehicle? [hint: no] ‘To do a unique version of a sedan that already exists, you’re talking about three quarters of a billion dollars,’ Lutz said. ‘Reducing the number of nameplates is a way to save money.'”

Bob so “gets it” these days. Well, as of Friday. And so does AN writer Jamie Lareau. I mean, who can resist taking shots at Maximum Bob’s fuzzy logic device (i.e. brain)? Not Jamie.

“The Malibu has been a commercial success, while the Aura ‘had a rough time getting started,’ Lutz noted. ‘Three years later, people are still saying ‘What’s an Aura?’ In the first 11 months of 2008, GM sold 160,898 Malibus in the United States, but only 56,194 Auras.”

Zing! And how about this?

“Nowadays,” Bob said, sounding a lot like someone who isn’t afraid to tell teenagers to stay off his lawn. “There’s so much stuff out there and so many brands that nobody can keep track of it anymore.”

Well, maybe someone can. But why should we expect such encyclopedic knowledge from the head of GM’s Product Development? What good would that do?