Maximum Bob: The Big Three Are GM, Volkswagen, and Hyundai
It’s strange: When you talk to the big manufacturers in Japan, then they are worried by benchmarking Volkswagen and Hyundai. GM never comes up. When you talk to Bob Lutz, who has been re-hired as a part-time consultant to GM executives, then he is worried by benchmarking Volkswagen and Hyundai. Toyota never comes up. Bob Lutz thinks the Japanese have lost it. Germany’s Manager Magazin disturbed Lutz’s Swiss vacation with an interview, and Lutz, always good for explosive quotes, did not disappoint:
“A while ago, many experts thought, the race for the top position in the auto business would be a dead heat between GM, Toyota, and Honda. This has changed. The Big Three are now GM, Volkswagen, and Hyundai. Toyota is in decline. The Japanese lost their bullet-proof quality image. Their cars aren’t especially pretty. Their driving dynamics is below the level of the best European and American cars.
GM on the other hand has improved its engineering, payroll and healthcare are way down after the bankruptcy. When it comes to platform sharing amongst brands, GM always has been absolutely competitive. Trust me: GM will give Volkswagen and Hyundai a tough fight.”
With Maximum Bob’s, and Martin Winterkorn’s endorsement, I guess it’s safe to buy a Hyundai.
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Just another idotic Lutz rhetroic. Personally, I find every Toyota vehicle to be prettier than the so-called "pretty cars" that he claims GM spits out on a daily basis, and I'd still pit the reliability of a 'Yota over a Government Motors UAW pot smoker car anyday of the week. Why won't this guy just STFU already?
@RRocket...Trust me on this, in the blue collar world, dope smoking is an every day occurance. I know for a fact Honda, and Toyota workers smoke dope outside on the loading docks. Hint..I was a shipper reciever at GM for a long time. The same truckers deliver parts to all the plants. Live in your fantasy world, if you choose, guys. I've lived and worked blue collar my whole life. Have you? I think not,or you wouldn't have made that statement.
General Motors will be the top selling global automaker in 2011, probably at least 1,000,000 ahead of Toyota after matching them in 2010. The company made $5.7B in just the first 6 months and is likely to report record profit for the year. VW is on track to outsell Toyota, too, and was the most profitable carmaker in the world last year. Meanwhile Hyundai-Kia has been growing fast, pushing Ford to 5th place globally, over 3 million behind GM last year. Lutz seems to have some powerful facts on his side.
This is great news for Toyota --the Japanese always bring their A game whenever they are the underdog.