Personally, I think GM saw a bigger turnaround from Obama's "Car Czar's" firing of CEO Rick Wagoneer. it was fear of this kind of oversight that led to Ford refusing the government loan. Ford family members still occupy the board room at the Blue Oval, and they weren't about to cede power to this or any other White House. Lutz was not forced out at GM for incompetence, he retired in 2010 after a lifelong legacy in auto design.
As a GM retiree myself, I already knew about Lutz's unfortunate conservative stance on climate change and always felt disappointed that such a talented man held those anti-science views, but realized he was a breath of fresh air in a company that traditionally changed course more slowly than the Titanic. Understand, when Lutz took over at design, he was the first car guy in modern times to hold that position. Previously, the job was traditionally (and famously) filled with corporate suck asses and bean counters who fretted more over how much a piece of chrome moulding would cost multiplied by a million units than they did style.
Current hot selling models like the Volt, the Cobalt, and the new Camaro were all developed under the artful supervision of Bob Lutz. Lutz personally steered GM toward alternative energy cars saying the electric car is "inevitable", and for the first time in two generations influenced designs that the public actually likes. While at Chrysler, he headed the design team that developed the Viper and Prowler. At Ford, he layed the groundwork for the new Mustang, so his eye for winning designs is at the top of his resume. He left Ford and fled to GM because of political differences with the Ford CEO Red Polling, so we know like all wing nuts, he has a hard time keeping his big freeper mouth shut at work.
It was his outspokeness and deep interest in all things automobile that made headlines back in 2001. Lutz has a car collection that rivals the most exclusive in the world, and flies his own restored WWII P-51 Mustang. He stood out among the legions of cookie cutter empty suits that preceded him for decades past. While It's obvious Lutz was not at all responsible for book keeping problems at GM, I hope his successor is able to fill his shoes as head of design. I only hope Barra isn't another generic executive hired for her educational background, and she inherently understands what the public wants to drive.
The story about Lutz's first week at GM tells of him calling a meeting of the heads of design and engineering where he had an easel at the front of the meeting room. On that easel was a picture of the Pontiac Aztec, a particularly homely GM flop at the time. GM lost a ton of money on the short lived platform and had to give them away on bargain basement leases before scrapping tens of millions in tooling costs. Lutz asked the (by now foot shuffling) design team assembled before him how such a thing could happen on their watch, and who was responsible for such an "autotrocity".
The answer he refined from the collective was that CEO Rick Wagoner personally steered the design and OK'd the final design. They said Wagoner felt he knew what young people were looking for in a new car, and as good GM employees, they weren't about to argue with the boss. Legend has it that Lutz summarliy fired the bunch and announced that the age of corporate lemmings in the design department was over. From now on he said, no design would be presented to anyone but himself for approval, and there would be no financial restraints on their ideas.
To sum up, yes I think Bob Lutz is a right wing asshole of the highest magnitude, but the designs he put his name on are a big part of the reason why GM has overtaken Toyota as the world's hottest selling automobile company. We won't know how his successor does for years to come because designs take typically almost ten years from drawing board to showroom. If Barra is using design and product engineering as a stepping stone to a better corner office at the company, her department will stagnate GM. If on the other hand, she she has the artistic talent to know what the public wants to drive ten years from now, she'll be a superstar in the industry. So far she's totally unproven, and nothing in her background indicates she knows anything about automobile aesthetics. She's an electrical engineer by trade.
I wish her and my former employer very sincere luck.
= new reply since forum marked as read
