Lutz has fought hard to get GM on track
Bob Lutz, the product chief and vice chairman of General Motors, is to retire at the end of the year. The legendary auto executive has been in the business for 46 years and has had top jobs at all three Detroit carmakers.
He will be starting a new role as vice chairman and senior advisor until he retires at the end of the year. The 76-year-old told the Detroit Free Press yesterday that new government oversight created by federal loans and tougher regulatory requirements have brought about huge changes for GM.
'I would say that for a person like me who thrives on the challenge of anticipating ... customer desires and has a certain knack for doing vehicles that please people in the marketplace, there's ... unquestionably an environment where the future products are going to be increasingly driven by regulation,' Lutz said.
That change, he added, ‘obviously eliminates that psychological or sociological factor, that emotional factor, that I was very good at playing. ... As it becomes a more national business, where cars need to have certain characteristics, and above all need to have regulatory compliance, there's no question that changes the complexion of the job somewhat.’
GM is now attempting to rebuild itself with the help of $13.4 billion in federal loans and is working towards the Feb 17 deadline to present the government with a plan to prove it can use the money to good effect.
Lutz will be replaced by Thomas Stephens, who now is executive vice president of global powertrain and quality.
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