Lutz Taking the Chevrolet Volt to Letterman

Go Bob Lutz. He's one of the few auto execs with the ability get things done and the guts to challenge conventional wisdom, which isn't necessarily wisdom at all.

That moronic old dinosaur doesn't deserve air time.

blueguydotcom, you're talking about Letterman, I assume.

Bob Lutz. The man hasn't said anything rational or intelligent in decades. Putting him on television is like sending Roseanne Barr on a National Anthem Tour. Sure he can do it but the damage he'll do is almost immeasurable.

His last appearance on the Colbert Report was awful. It was akin to watching the characters from "Mad Men" getting in a time machine and doing any kind of PR work in today's age. He mocked the potential buyers of the Volt and scoffed at the very product he was supposed be touting.

We won't get into his inept efforts at GM. He and his little buddy Wagoner have no sense or the sense to exhibit shame for their colossal failure. Lutz even called Wagoner the best CEO he's worked for - many years working and the best he can find is a guy who blew 80 billion bucks and lost marketshare? Wow, did he work for Ken Lay or Bernie Madoff at one point?

bgdc, I knew who you were talking about. I was just playing with your comment to express my displeasure with Letterman. He needs to retire.

BGDC, Colbert is about satire, so going on and doing a normal pitch for the Volt wouldn't be consistent with the show. Learn the audience.

Also, at least Lutz is perhaps one of the last people left willing to stand up against the people who refuse to let us question their scientific findings. Isn't science supposed to involve debate? Not when it is useful for political power grabs I guess.

And while Wagoner may not have done a good job on the business end of things, Lutz's job was the product, and he did a fantastic job with that. Except for the new GTO, which many people still think is a good product despite a cool market reception, he oversaw some truly great products come out of GM. CTS, Malibu, Lambda quadruplets, Camaro, LaCrosse, Equinox, SRX, Cruze, Volt, Converj, and Orlando - All products or concepts that are making even some of the traditional GM haters here admit that GM can make some great products, and regret that they came out during these troubled times. So I'd say Lutz did his particular job well.

stovt,

1. You're flat out wrong about guests to Colbert. They go on the show to push their products - most often books. Just like The Daily Show and Letterman and O'Reilly and Stern the format may be about about jokes but the visitors are there with a very really agenda: to sell (a product, an idea, etc).

2. Lutz came off as ill-informed and living in another era. People go on Colbert every night and push their product in spite of Colbert's comments. Lutz essentially came right out and said the Volt is lame and the people who should buy it are birkenstock-wearing-Cal-grads (ironic considering his degrees).

3. Lutz may be a hero to gearheads but to me he's an example of everything that is so very wrong in the automotive world - a focus on raw power with no regard to quality, daily drivability, ergonomics, etc. He really believes in the 1960s halo car concept and that joe public will see a 500 hp CTS-V and thus buy a subpar wreck like a Malibu.

@blueguydotcom

The Malibu topped the Camry in every comparison test I've read, earned a top reliability rating from J.D power and associates, and is one of the top ten selling cars in the US. It's anything but a "subpar wreck".

I gotta agree with GT5000. The Malibu is the equal of any of it's competitors.

Agreed with the two above. Quality is absolutely part of the equation with Lutz. Some of the biggest compliments towards the GTO and G8 (behind the performance) were that quality, especially interior, was superior to previous GM products and really competitive with the rest of the industry.

And lets be honest now - hybrid drivers do it for the image. They want people to know how "green" they are. Never mind producing a hybrid is very damaging to the environment, less cost efficient than a conventional car, and not really more fuel efficient than what Europe is getting out of well designed conventional cars. Despite all these arguments, greenies and people panicking over high fuel prices and not bothering to look into things will dump all their money into a vehicle as long as it wears a hybrid badge. If you can't mock those people, there is something wrong with you.

And believe it or not, that type of self-depreciating satire does sell products. It got a fair amount of publicity for the Volt, and that is the point.

Some of the biggest slams against the G8 has been its 1980s interior.

The Volt will most likely fail (assuming GM is even in business by then). The pricing is outrageous and it's attached to a company that's a titanic. There is no logical incentive to pay 40k or even 30k for a Volt when one can get an insight or prius or Fusion for much, much less. And from companies with a future.

Thanks Bob, you helped ruin GM but smile you have millions.

^The interior isn't really that bad.

There are some logical reasons to buy a volt when contrasted to your typical hybrid. It runs on purely electric power and only uses the engine to charge the electric motor as opposed to working with the electric motor to power the wheels. A simple distinction, but an important one.

Essentially, if you never travel further than 40 miles a day, you need never use a drop of gasoline. The potential savings speak for themselves. No other hybrid can offer this.

My only concern is that the batteries will be the same as those found in your typical hybrid. Stovt001 said it, the environmental damage the manufacturing of those batteries causes is orders of magnitude greater than the meager savings in terms of exhaust gasses. While this remains the case, hybrid drivers are nothing if not smug, underinformed, hypocrites.

Sure the volt is predicted to be expensive, but let's not slam a car that hasn't made it to market yet.

Btw, the "Halo Car" idea is still alive and valid.

In Canada, both Mitsubishi and Subaru have used the halo created by the Evo and STI respectively to enhance the appearance of the rest of the lineup.

Mitsubishi has done exceedingly well and is selling Lancers like hotcakes.

Research and development doesn't come free.

The only thing "1980s" about the interior is the meter in the center stack, which has been removed for 09 models. What else is not thoroughly modern and competitive with the G8's interior? These stupid stereotypes and related uninformed, mindless bashing based on assumptions really needs to stop now.

stovt, read edmunds blogs about the G8 - they always slam the interior. Heck, go sit in one... it's a fine interior if you're in a 1988 Firebird.

blueguydotcom

I'm guessing you've never been in a car from the 80's. The G8 may not be cutting edge inside (what that is these days) but it is certainly not like something from the 80's.

Perhaps an Accord or Camry has a little more modern interior (read dull) but the G8 kills them on hardware.

First, sadly, I owned a car from the 1980s. The G8's interior wasn't much of a step up. I'd say the comparison to the late 80's firebird is apt.

"First, sadly, I owned a car from the 1980s. The G8's interior wasn't much of a step up"

lol, you're either joking or so biased it's not funny. Everything from the eighties was complete junk. Saying that the G8's interior wasn't that much better is like saying that a BMW's interior is just a step up from a Kia.