GM’s Lutz to Say Goodbye: Strong Advocate for Volt

By Ucilia Wang

General Motors’ (GM) Bob Lutz, a strong advocate for the company’s Chevy Volt, plans to retire by the end of the year.

Lutz is leaving during a year when GM will have to fight hard for its survival. The automaker has said that it still plans to launch the Volt, a plug-in hybrid-electric car, in 2010 despite its financial woes.

Lutz, who has been the vice chairman for global product development, will become a senior advisor starting on April 1, the company said Monday. Thomas G. Stephens, GM’s current executive vice president for powertrain and quality, will take over Lutz’s job.

Lutz has been a big supporter of the Volt, which GM is banking on to set itself apart from other automakers who plan to introduce their own plug-in hybrid electric vehicles around the same time. He also is known for controversial statements, such as the one expressing his disbelief in global warming. Earth2tech has a good post listing some revealing and funny quotes by Lutz.

The outspoken man has done his part in pushing GM to recognize the importance of developing alternative, fuel-efficient cars. The rest is up to the company to make good use of the federal loans to return to good financial health.

Comments

[Tony C:]

Lutz is a great character study. There is a good book to be had about his life. Love him or hate him, he may be one of the last of his breed: a recognizable face in a sea of commitees, with the strength to will a project production on his personality alone. I often didn't agree with his positions, but I'll miss him.

Feb 10 09:02 AM

[Jamaican in...:]

GM failed because its fixed costs that were unrelated to production(pensions, health care benefits, jobs banks) were much larger than its competitors so it chased short term profits in order to meet the overhead expenses and it failed to anticipate the changing market place.

Bob Lutz must have felt like an Old Testament prophet "crying in the wilderness". While the policy makers at GM underfunded R&D they persited in gambling on the profitability of large SUVs and tolerated frivolous products that emphasized the number of cup holders and shiny hubcaps rather than on fuel efficiency, innovation and reliability.

Bub Lutz was a visionary, but from the evidence in the show rooms he was a lone voice among executives who wasted opportuntities to behave with fiscal restraint to the point where facing bankruptcy they defended the ostentatious conduct of flying to congress in empty private jets to beg for tax payer support.

A pox on all the out of touch executives who have squandered the nation's resources to support a lavish life style. They destroyed shareholder value in the organizations while they undermined innovation, suffocated the people with vision and hoisted on the American public products that emphasize paint and perfume rather than practicality and performance.

Feb 10 09:25 AM

[Paul Killinger:]

That's right. The only "executives" who should continue to be allowed to fly to meetings in their empty personal jets are our politicians.

Feb 10 10:08 AM

[frank c:]

You want to talk about ostentatious? Nancy Pelosi flys in a private large jet every weekend from Washington to California. This is government sponsored . the addage "people in glass houses should not throw stones" apparently applies only to the private sector, not our shameful government.


On Feb 10 09:25 AM Jamaican in Africa wrote:

> GM failed because its fixed costs that were unrelated to production(pensions,
> health care benefits, jobs banks) were much larger than its competitors
> so it chased short term profits in order to meet the overhead expenses
> and it failed to anticipate the changing market place.
>
> Bob Lutz must have felt like an Old Testament prophet "crying in
> the wilderness". While the policy makers at GM underfunded R&D
> they persited in gambling on the profitability of large SUVs and
> tolerated frivolous products that emphasized the number of cup holders
> and shiny hubcaps rather than on fuel efficiency, innovation and
> reliability.
>
> Bub Lutz was a visionary, but from the evidence in the show rooms
> he was a lone voice among executives who wasted opportuntities to
> behave with fiscal restraint to the point where facing bankruptcy
> they defended the ostentatious conduct of flying to congress in empty
> private jets to beg for tax payer support.
>
> A pox on all the out of touch executives who have squandered the
> nation's resources to support a lavish life style. They destroyed
> shareholder value in the organizations while they undermined innovation,
> suffocated the people with vision and hoisted on the American public
> products that emphasize paint and perfume rather than practicality
> and performance.

Feb 10 05:58 PM

[James Eckler:]

The Volt is a modern day Vega for GM. It takes an area where we are even weaker than in oil (the U.S. has 6% of the lithium supply) and a proprietary technology that locks owners into dealers for VERY expensive parts for life. These cars will be throwaways when the warranty expires. Check on the cost of replacing the braking systems, the air conditioner, and of course the $7,500 batteries.

Feb 11 06:58 AM

[Jamaican in...:]

That our government also behaves irresponsibly does not excuse irresponsible behavior in the public sector. There has to be a change in attitude among those who feel that they are deserving of special treatment and have the right to squander what the rest of us have built whether they be employed in government or in industry.

Attack government leaders all you want for their wasteful spending and excesses, and I will join you in lambasting them. But the fact that one group is wasteful does not automatically excuse ostentatious, imperious and wasteful behavior in another. This hubris has to stop, and we the tax payers, and stock holders have to start demanding better stewardship of our hard earned money that is collected by government as taxes or invested in publicly held corporations in the form of shares.

Disagree with me all you want if you want to make excuses for corporate misbehavior. I won't, nor will I excuse the stupidity, mismanagement and shortsightedness that caused a steady erosion in this one proud company's value, thereby reducing its leaders to international beggars and causing so many people dedicated to lose all they have worked for. A pox on them and all their house.

On Feb 10 05:58 PM frank c wrote:

> You want to talk about ostentatious? Nancy Pelosi flys in a private
> large jet every weekend from Washington to California. This is government
> sponsored . the addage "people in glass houses should not throw stones"
> apparently applies only to the private sector, not our shameful government.
>

Feb 11 11:28 AM