GM's Lutz Retires - Departure of an Icon

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Lutz gone from GM, isn't end of his automotive road

Detroit Michigan, May 3, 2010; For those auto enthusiasts who were afraid of losing the king of sound bites, there's hope for the future. While Bob Lutz, the exiting vice chairman and imminently quotable spokesperson at General Motors has actually retired this time, he has made it clear that doesn't mean he is gone

There was earlier speculation that this retirement might not stick, like the one Lutz was supposed to take a year earlier that ultimately never happened. This departure from GM sounds more permanent. GM now has survived and seems to be rebounding from its darkest days of bankruptcy in 2009 with sales for its four surviving brands rising 31 percent this year. The company is moving into an electronic future that might have seemed implausible a couple of years earlier when the Chevy Volt hybrid under development was largely unknown.

And we can't imagine Lutz -- a confirmed cigar smoker -- working in any environment where he would be deprived of his ability to light up his favorite stogie. (Michigan -- where GM is headquartered and Lutz has had his offices -- has just enacted a "no smoking" workplace policy. Even GM's vice chairman can't sidestep that one.)

The Auto Channel caught up with Lutz at one of his last official appearances, the unveiling of the eco-friendly Chevrolet Cruze at the New York auto show press days in late March when the inevitable question arose. What would he be doing after retirement?

Lutz, at 78, could be forgiven for sitting back and enjoying a review of his many years in the auto industry. But that would be highly "un-Lutz like." After all this is the man who is legendary for flying his own MIG training jet and Sikorsky helicopter for fun, and who admittedly drives motorcycles at three digit speeds at times. (He recently quipped that people thought he continued to work just to finance his flying. Not a bad assumption.)

What happens beyond May? Well, first there's a book, then maybe the speaking circuit and of course some consulting. All those years at the high altitude levels of BMW. Ford, Chrysler and finally General Motors shouldn't be wasted, one could argue. Lutz sounded as if he had given serious consideration to the next chapter after his decision to depart GM following the aborted retirement plan a year earlier. GM, like its competitors, is speeding up its move from the mechanical to the electronic age with the implication the auto of the future will have more or even total control over the driver, not less. And Lutz is a hands-on enthusiast who understands the kick a finely tuned, elegantly designed, eloquent statement that a perfect driving vehicle can deliver..

The idea of writing his second book following his earlier tome, GUTS, some 15 years ago seemed to be a pretty sure thing. So the Auto Channel asked what it would be about. Not surprising, the auto industry, or the industry as part of the overall U.S. industrial complex. Lutz said he will write about the impact of leadership styles on the industry, the vision or lack thereof that has moved the auto industry and manufacturing in general to its present place and set the stage for recent industry doldrums. He will talk about the impact of top-down decisions, of culture and how education has not been properly addressed. While that seems to suggest no aspect will be safe from criticism, he'll be careful where he aims. "I'll make it as non-political as possible so I won't incur the wrath of the IRS," he quipped in quintessential Lutz style.

On the future? "In 20 to 30 years you won't be driving," said Lutz. Instead, the world of vehicle transportation will entirely change. He envisioned a future where someone would get in the car and it would follow a prescribed route to a main travel artery, the vehicle would merge onto an automated highway going, say, from New York to Chicago, then exit the main drag for a second prescribed route -- all governed by sophisticated electronics. The person in the vehicle would just be along for the ride.

"That will be a sad day for some, but I won't be around for that," said Lutz, who is considered the consummate car guy whose tendency for "white knuckle" driving is well known to industry insiders.