GM's Bob Lutz Will Retire May 1

Lutz: "I can confidently say that the job I came here to do more than nine years ago is now complete..."

Um, I think Bob misunderstood a few verbs in his contract. Maybe he doesn't know assist or help are not synonyms for destroy and dismantle? Or he's an evil genius?

Hopefully it sticks this time. Good riddance, Bob.

"I can confidently say that the job I came here to do more than nine years ago is now complete -- the team I have been fortunate to lead has far exceeded my expectations. Our product lineup is as strong as it has been in GM's history."

Faint praise. Throughout most of GM's recent history their lineup has utterly sucked. Complete? Not a chance, GM is still not releasing class-leading products consistently. Many are good but the competition isn't exactly softening either.

"The perception of our products and brands is beginning to catch up with reality."

Getting better, but not quite there. And what is reality, that most of their products are average to decently good? Some still suck, like the Cobalt and Aveo. There are many areas (such as here in NorCal) where you won't see a new GM model on the road for an entire year unless it's a rental. So brand perception is still area-dependent. I just tried to suggest to a colleague to wait on a Prius purchase to consider the Volt (she really wanted a plug-in hybrid) and I got a "why on earth would anyone buy a *Chevy*" reaction. I still think that GM would have been better off rebranding the entire company.

"And most importantly, the absolute commitment to being a product-driven company is engrained throughout the organization -- from the top down..."

Easy for him to say, but is it really? I have confidence than it is probably better than ever before, but the supposed "New GM" leadership and some of the newer products haven't exactly reinforced this statement.

I hear this almost everyday: "why on earth would anyone buy a Chevy". Unless its a truck.

They are getting better, I'll give them that. Still, where's the 3-series, C-class, or IS competitor? If they offer the Buick Regal GS as a FWD only, they haven't fixed anything.

Oh and I forgot to say, during Bob's honorable tenure the company utterly collapsed on itself in a cloud of bankruptcy, lost market share, and obliterated shareholder (and bondholder) value... emerging only with the assistance of the American taxpayer. Brands have died, dealers have been cut, plants have been closed. Ford is getting closer to consistently beating GM in US sales and in profitability. Oh but the CTS-V is fast. Mission Accomplished. Great job Bob!

Inlinesix- I kinda agree, although I have felt for years that buick had a mistaken identity of what it was supposed to be, and with the regal it further enhances that. Though I still kinda want one.

I`ll miss the old fella.

On the flip side of the GM bashing here, lets look at what has gone right:

1. Malibu - wonderful product

2. CTS - wonderful product

3. Equinox - wonderful product

4. LaCrosse - see above

5. Camaro - ditto

6. Regal, Cruze and new Aveo look extremely promising

7. Good fuel economy that you don't have to pay thousands extra for

8. Cars that stop accelerating when you lift your foot off the gas. (Should be a given, but the "greatest car company in the whole wide world OMG" proved that isn't the case)

9. Progress in reversing years of insane UAW demands.

The only thing holding GM back is idiots like those bimmerjay and inlinesix mentioned who will blindly cling to the company that makes killer appliances and hybrids that are more environmentally damaging cradle-to-grave than a Land Rover, excusing anything they do and ignoring all the facts.

Stovt001:

The term "bashing" is so harsh.

I personally prefer smaller RWD coupes than the Camaro. I also like midsize RWD sedans. So even if GM makes the best cars in the world, so far they, don't make any I want. There are others like me. If GM had the new FT-86 in development, I would be excited about a GM car. If they had a C350 competitor, I would be excited about a GM car.

I also believe that the people that loved Toyota "appliances" were buying them because they wanted to based on the competition (from companies like GM).

"during Bob's honorable tenure the company utterly collapsed on itself in a cloud of bankruptcy, lost market share, and obliterated shareholder (and bondholder) value... emerging only with the assistance of the American taxpayer. Brands have died, dealers have been cut, plants have been closed. Ford is getting closer to consistently beating GM in US sales and in profitability"

Yeah, but most of this was already in the works before Lutz showed up. GM has a long, storied history of awful management. I really think GM would be in far worse shape if he hadn't been there. I could see GM still producing the Grand Prix and the Catera.

He'll be missed if he really goes.

I truly believe GM was starting to catch it's rivals for the first time in 35 years or so. It seemed significant change was happening faster and faster for each model line.

Hope we continue to progress.
Grand Prix --> GTO --> G8 --> G8 GXP
Any 80s caddy --> Catera --> CTS + CTS-V 1st gen --> CTS 2nd gen + V

We finally had RWD American sports sedans that could turn, then we even started putting brakes on some of them. I hope we continue this trend for at least 2-3 more years so I can get one.

Please whoever takes over bring the G8 GXP as a caprice or something for me to buy.

BOb Lutz is the last great "car guy" at GM. Once he's gone all you have left is some bean-counters like Whitacre who will hasten the demise of the brand just as they did in the 90's. So long Bob, we'll miss you...

Ah, Bob, I'll miss our nights hanging by your 100 inch projection TV as you gaze on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill footage you love to put on constant rotation. We'd drink what you called "Nectar" but I suspect it was baby sea turtle blood given the daily visits from your "supplier of the stuff" aka Dominic's Rare Sea Creaturtorium. That den smelled of motor oil, nail polish and the coppery-pungentness of plasma.

Who else will feed me fresh lion while he laughs with delight at his own stories of spending nine years - yes nine years! - destroying one of American's largest companies.

You're a special guy, Bobby. The world can only handle one of you.

AMF....!

GM would have crashed-and-burned long ago without Lutz. He saved their butt. The proof is in the pudding, with the best cars I've seen from GM in decades; you can than thank Lutz for that. Best thing Rick Wagoner ever did was hire him.

Agreed with rsholland. BGDC sounds like 1487 with a petty childish grudge. Not a good combination.

So to sum it all up,

Lutz you're such a savior to GM and all the people that like 4,000 lb cars. You were part of a company that offered no competitive fuel efficient cars when gas prices rose to $4 a gallon, contributing to the demise of an already hurting company.

You helped bring over cars over from Australia and Europe which shows how great the US GM development team is. Then the good car, the G8, was dropped asap. You are a "green" champion by helping develop the Volt, an expensive flop. The Aveo looks much better so IMO you have been part of one thing that changes the direction of GM...

Anyone with good engineering knowledge and a like for big cars could do your job. Kudos on your limited achievements (CTS-V, LaCrosse)--don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

@stovt,

Sorry, some people might view him as an over-the-top dinosaur and not have the media's ecstatic reaction to his proclamations and actions.

My apologies, I don't fall into the school of "Lutz is Great."

He only helped take GM from 28% marketshare to less than 20%. He helped turn it into a groveling company dependent on Pro-America sentiment and my tax dollars to stay open. But ya know, he got the Holden to come here and for that he should be congratulated. Sheesh.

You want to know what actually killed GM? It wasn't $4 gas. It wasn't large cars (which are the best sellers in this country by far). It was UAW legacy costs. WHen you have to pay some schlub $60k a year plus benefits who hasn't worked a day for 20 years, you're in trouble. Bob Lutz was the reason we don't still have body-cladded Pontiacs and AC Delco relics still polluting the streets. Take a look at the average 90's GM product and compare it to today's lineup. That is Bob Lutz's legacy....

The Lutz critics here are in the distinct minority, as Lutz is regarded by most in the industry as one of the influential auto executives ever—and in a very positive way.

Correlation does not equal causation, an extremely simple minded fallacy of logic the people claiming Lutz oversaw the descent into bankruptcy demonstrate painfully well. GM's problems were the result of 2.5 decades of bad management and a suicidally greedy UAW. Lutz oversaw a product Renaissance that included many very fuel efficient cars during the gas crisis, but it takes time for the extremely biased and limited perceptions of inlinesix and his kind to change and accept the fact. It isn't hard to see the kind of mentality that would call a car that isn't even released yet a flop.

I apologize for linking to another automotive news source, but Alex Taylor's writeup on Lutz is a great read on the good he did for GM and what problems he was not responsible for, but in fact fought against.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/04/autos/gm_lutz.fortune/index.htm

Apparently, you guys see a 30%+ drop in marketshare as a success. He was around for nearly a decade and in that time GM's gone from stumbling to begging taxpayers for cash. He even had the audacity to say that execs at a company LOSING money deserve more compensation.

Yeah, the unions were bad, but he was part of the group that supported a slew of bad/slow selling vehicles.

2006 lineup included such dogs as:

HHR
Cobalt
Imapala
Malibu
Monte Carlo
SSR
Aveo
Uplander
Grand Prix
GTO
G6
Montana
Torrent
XLR
Relay
Ion
Vue

That's 5 years after he got to GM. That's a list of some pretty horrendous cars/trucks/minivans. So while Honda and Toyota were taking over with quality vehicles, Maxmimum Bob and his buddies were collecting big paychecks and continuing to pump out vehicles that led to where GM found itself in 2009.

His support of the Volt on national TV? He mocked its potential buyers. That's marketing genius at work. How many iterations of the Vette came out while GM went under? Get the next -V model of Caddy out the door, ignore the stagnating sales everywhere else. Lord knows honda, hynudai, toyota and nissan are selling because of their speedy models - you know Honda's power line up of...the Civic Si? No matter what this speed-loving dinosaur did many of you and the media lapped it up.

"He was around for nearly a decade and in that time GM's gone from stumbling to begging taxpayers for cash."

Had he not been around, GM would have been begging taxpayers for cash 5 years earlier.

Stovt001:

This is a quote from your hero Lutz (in 2010): "We face an enormous reputational deficit, one that took decades to develop and one that, unfortunately, we earned."

I agree with Lutz 100%. They were in the middle of a brand equity problem even in the middle of the gas crisis AND housing loan stupidity. If they offered more competitive cars even 4-7 years after Lutz joined GM then I wouldn't have a problem with him.

And yes, I call the Volt a flop. I would say that about any $40,000 plug-in hybrid. Another quote from Lutz outlined how the Volt was not expected to generate a profit for GM. Its a fuel economy standards program they are being forced into. They spent a ton of money developing a car to get by economy standards instead of developing cars to compete with other non-series hybrids.

As a comparison Toyota sold 1.5 million hybrid cars by August 2008. Toyota said: "For the next-generation Prius, we will be able to cut costs by another half, so I think we’ve been able to ensure profitability will be similar to regular vehicles, such as the Corolla."

Hey Blueguy, why don't you make a list of the perennial winners in the GM lineup from 5 years prior to Bob Lutz's tenure??? Be sure to include such notable entries as the Grand Am, Cavalier, Sunfire, Coupe Deville, Aztek, and every 90's Saturn. Yeah Bob did NOTHING to change the culture there at GM...

Majin, is GM in worst shape now than it was 9 years ago?

Revenue, profits, share? You know the answer...

Oops, meant WORSE (not worst - Freudian slip...)

Hmmm, I dunno, is competition higher??? Fifteen years ago Hyundai was a bit player and Toyota was far from the number one seller in the world. Btw the argument is whether or not Lutz increased quality and performance in the GM brand, not whether or not the company was destroyed by the UAW. 2008 was a tough year for almost every car maker, but my point is that with Lutz in place at least GM has anything to compare to the Euro/Japanese offerings unlike in the 80's/90's when every GM car was crap...

You keep blaming the UAW as if Lutz and his buddies didn't pick products and negotiate deals. as if Lutz didn't push moribund ideas like the G8 and GTO and ten variations of the Vette or the ridiculous Solstice\Sky.

I'm not saying everything the man did worked. But he was the first guy at GM in 30 years to actually attempt to build cars to a standard and not to a price. Why can't you give him credit for that? Him and Alan Mullaly deserve most of the credit for putting American cars back on somewhat even footing with the European and Japanese car industries.

The fact that GM went belly-up despite his efforts is irrelevant. That was an outcome NOBODY could have avoided...

majin,

Because he's a dinosaur; he really seems to believe the old mantra of win on sunday, sell on monday. He focused too often on performance vehicles over quality/design - GTO, Z06, G8, Solstice GXP, CTS-V. Because he continues to this day to deride diesel and hybrids as if the success others are seeing in those fields isn't possible. Because he had the audacity to claim executives working for a failing company deserved higher pay. He doesn't come from the school where results = reward. He just believes in rewarding people for effort, regardless of the outcome. Just as he believes in pushing a faster product is what will = sales. And finally, because he made himself the story over the cars.

A great leader isn't about his forceful personality or his charisma. A great leader surrounds himself with people who can replace him, he forces the team to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, he makes decisions that are based on real data, and finally, he understands what the company does is more important than himself. Lutz wasn't a great executive. He was just focused on cars he liked, ideas he liked and getting himself in front of the media. He hasn't helped reshape GM - he just became the grinning face of the performance arm of GM to the detriment of the cars that pay the bills.

The sooner his style of leadership is gone, the better... but it won't go away as the media loves these almost mythical leaders/execs who seem to be molded from a different type. The car-guy who became an influential exec - it's like the fan who becomes lead singer of a band. The great american success story; even if the final outcome is a failure...

You still haven't answered my question: Is GM's product lineup better or worse now than before Bob Lutz? Yes or no?

Its ok, we all know the answer...