Bob Lutz Retires - sort of

11th February 2009

Bob Lutz

This week, General Motors announced that Vice Chairman - Global Product Development “Maximum” Bob Lutz will retire at the end of the year. Effective April 1, Lutz will move to a “Senior Adviser” position in which he “will provide strategic input into GM’s global design and key product initiatives.” This means that he will be doing the same thing he is now, but without the formal title. Although it’s an overused cliche, this truly marks the end of an era. Lutz has been a towering figure in the industry for decades, and there may not be any like him again.

Lutz began his automotive career in September 1963 at GM, where he held a variety of senior positions in Europe until December 1971. For the next three years, he served as executive vice president of sales at BMW in Munich and as a member of that company’s board of management. He then spent 12 years at Ford Motor Company, where his last position was executive vice president of truck operations. He also served as chairman of Ford of Europe and as executive vice president of Ford’s international operations. From 1982 to 1986, Lutz was a member of Ford’s board.

He then spent 12 years at Chrysler, where he led all of Chrysler’s automotive activities, including sales, marketing, product development, manufacturing, and procurement and supply. He began his service with Chrysler in 1986 as executive vice president and was shortly thereafter elected to the Chrysler Corporation board. Lutz also served as president and chief operating officer, responsible for Chrysler’s car and truck operations worldwide. His 12 years with the company are chronicled in his 1998 book, Guts: The Seven Laws of Business That Made Chrysler the World’s Hottest Car Company. Guts was revised and updated in 2003 and retitled, Guts: 8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business Leaders of our Time. He left Chrysler when they “merged” with Daimler-Benz in 1998.

After a stint at Exide Technologies, Lutz was named General Motors vice chairman of product development on September 1, 2001. On November 13, 2001, he was named chairman of GM North America and served in that capacity until April 4, 2005, when he assumed responsibility for Global Product Development. He also served as president of GM Europe on an interim basis from March to June 2004.

Lutz is known as a true “car guy”, but that title seems to imply that he doesn’t know about the running of the business. That couldn’t be further from the truth. As the above bio suggests, Bob knows all aspects of the business - functionally and geographically. He, along with Lee Iacocca, presided over Chrysler when they were the most innovative and successful automaker in the world. He has brought back GM’s design and engineering from the brink, and GM once again makes some of the best products you can buy. Many don’t know it yet, or refuse to believe it, but customer perception very often lags reality. The reality is that GM’s product lineup can stand with anybody’s, and GM owes that to Robert Lutz.

Bob was always a favorite of the press because he was so…quotable. My favorite is, “Global warming is a crock of sh%^&*it.” There are so many others. If you have a favorite, click on Comment below and share it with the rest of us.