But even better . . . WOOT!! ... he's LEAVING !! ... Again !! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Bob-Lutz-GMs-ultimate-car-guy-apf-2965696270.html?x=0 Yes, even as GM recalls 1.3 million cars for quality issues, he's out. Funny thing to me was that he's calling a car not yet in produciton ... a concept contrary to his muscle car passion, his "proudest achievement". The Volt would seem to be his greatest contradiction. Lutz has never been a fan of curbing fuel use, much less promoting a car without "musscle". .
considering his list of lifetime acheivements, creating a car that will not be built around an idea that no one at gm believes in, least of all him, i would call it his crowning achievement!:boxing:
We can thank him lots of industry resistance to Prius, claiming that it didn't make any business sense. And of course, his obsession with power is what contributed to Two-Mode being so monsterous. I personally like his "nicely under $30,000" the best. Of course, we always knew THAT priority for Volt was a "crock of @#$%". .
Good Bye Mr. Lutz. Don't let the door slam you in the butt on your way out. Hopefully GM will have the wisdom to get somebody that understands that there is always risk associated with progress. Keith
he did me a BIG favor tho, i was on the verge of buying a malibu hybrid when he pulled it off the shelf. bought the hycam, one of the finest cars on the road, really a sweet ride and 40-45mpg. thanks b klutz!
Realistic? That's something Lutz was never interested in. Why produce a ubiquitous business-sustaining vehicle when you can deliver a high-cost trophy to be proud of? .
Is it really a trophy if the top engineer and battery director jump shipped even before the Volt launch. If the first gen Volt is not a success, who will continue to improve the platform? It seems it is a dead end platform (die slowly?) to me.
Lutz's achievement is successfully keeping GM out of the hybrid business until the CEO finally put him in an office with no direct reports. He was put in a "staff" position where he could no longer make his mischief. Bob Wilson
Hybrid Malibu ... EV1 ... GM has faced enough "make it fast & bad or kill it if it's good" decisions relating to EV's & PHEV's. Hopefully the good done by the former designers won't be messed up. .
The Volt is a mammoth POS, plain and simple. Cobbled together with off-the-shelf parts, I firmly believe it was designed from day one to be a failure. It was the most gawdawful thing to see in person before the L.A. Auto Show a year and a half ago. Perhaps, considering Lutz's political prediliction toward fuel use, this constitutes reason for him to call it a success!
