Ex DaimlerChrysler Exec Wolfgang Bernhard to GM or VW?

LE CASTELLET, France, Sept 19, 2004; Tom Brown writing for Reuters reported that General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said on Sunday that the U.S. automaker has no plans to hire former Chrysler executive Wolfgang Bernhard, dismissing weeks of media reports.

Speculation arose in the media last month that Bernhard, the former former chief operating officer at DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler division, would join GM to replace Mark Hogan, the vice president for advanced vehicle development.

"I don't know if we've ever stated that no, Wolfgang Bernhard is not going to GM, but now is probably not the time to do it," Lutz told reporters in a meeting with the media ahead of the Paris auto show that starts later this week.

Media reports had also said that Bernhard could join German automaker Volkswagen AG. But a top VW spokesman late last month called one such report "nonsense".

Bernhard was an up-and-coming star at DaimlerChrysler and was tapped to take over the prized Mercedes brand this spring. However the DaimlerChrysler board abruptly bumped the outspoken youthful executive from the Mercedes job just days before he was supposed to start in May, and he left the company in July.

When Hogan left GM last month to become president of Canadian auto parts maker Magna International, speculation rose that he would join GM.

Since arriving at Chrysler in 2000, Bernhard had made a name for himself by spearheading the design and development of several eye-catching concept cars, including a powerful motorcycle called the Tomahawk. Both Lutz and Bernhard are considered "car guys" who have an eye for great vehicles. Lutz had also met privately with Bernhard since his fallout with Chrysler, GM officials said.

MAKING HEADLINES

"Despite all the headlines of 'Bernhard arrival at GM is imminent', it simply is not the case," Lutz said

Lutz said the company is assessing what to do about the advanced vehicle development position, which Lutz created more than two years ago. In that job, Hogan had streamlined the process of developing vehicles and coordinated the work between the design and the engineering departments.

"Currently, our favorite alternative is not to fill that position," said Lutz, who oversees the entire product development process at GM.

GM officials said that with the new process in place, the organization practically runs itself.

"We're not sure what we're going to do. As we move toward a globally-linked product development process, we're also going to do a globally-linked advanced vehicle development process," Lutz said.

When asked about his own future, the 72-year old Lutz said that he is in the midst of a one-year contract that is "sort of" automatically renewed, at the discretion of GM's management.

"My real heart's desire is to work myself out of a job by getting the culture at GM back to where it used to be," in the 1950s and 1960s, he said. Decades ago, GM was "never willing to settle for second best" when it was known as the leader in design and powerful engines, he said.