GM Shakeups Continue: Nesbitt Ousted At Cadillac, Lutz "Actively Considering" Retirement
Motor Trend reports that former PT Cruiser stylist Brian Nesbitt has been relieved of his duties as the head of Cadillac, ending GM’s post-bankruptcy experiment of putting a stylist in charge of an entire division. But MT figures that Nesbitt’s ouster isn’t as simple as a failure to perform; according to their sources, the firing was political.
The shakeup has major implications for Bob Lutz’s future at GM. He hired Nesbitt away from Chrysler earlier last decade and made sure there was a place for the PT Cruiser designer at post-bankruptcy GM. Nesbitt’s departure would indicate Lutz’s role as one of three GM vice chairmen has diminished to almost nothing… Clearly, [recently-promoted sales boss and President of North American ops Mark Reuss] is putting his own team together, and it doesn’t include Nesbitt, who was posed as the aesthetic face of the Cadillac luxury division.
Meanwhile, at the Geneva Auto Salon, Bob Lutz confirmed that he is probably on the way out.As we took a look at our available capital and engineering resources, we decided that therer were things that were more urgent than doing a Cadillac version of the Voltec architecture. We had originally had a time slot for the Converj and that has been put on hold
Does something about Lutz’s use of the first-person plural seem a bit odd? It’s one easy way to conceal the fact that MaxBob and Ed “Rattler” Whitacre are at odds on a number of fronts. Would Mr Lutz like to comment on this rift?
Ed Whitacre is not interested in organizational stability, Ed Whitacre is interested in results. If it takes a certain amount of upheaval to get the right people in the positions than that is what he is going to do.
If that doesn’t suggest that Lutz is on his way out, what would? It looks like Docherty, Nesbitt and Lutz are on the decline, while Reuss and Steve Girsky are exercising ever more control as Ed Whitacre’s hatchet men. GM will be making an announcement about its latest shakeup sometime this week, and we’ll update you with the latest on this palace intrigue as it plays out.
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Maybe all this "active retirement" talk is a ploy to justify a pay and benefits increase ... (look what Lutz's statements did for Whitacre's P&B package ... but he can't sell that saussage twice, can he?)
The problem with most of you people on here is that you simply cannot bear the fact that someone has the nerve to stick his head above the weeds, or an ounce of individuality. You soma-tized arse lickers would rather someone be dead than refuse to follow the mediocrity worshipping crowd that you all aspire to. One of the biggest problems with the auto industry for the past 30 years has been the Wagner's, Eaton's, Nardelli's, Press's, Schremp's, and LaSorda's, a bunch of lifers in grey suits who couldn't recognize an original thought or idea if it slapped them in the face, which is why they are ALL GONE! Like him or not, Mr. Lutz has contributed more to the auto industry than any 10 other recent executives, and I sincerely hope he will continue to do so.