I thought that today was an incredibly sad day for General Motors. They submitted their recovery plan to the government. From a management perspective, that day was embarrassing considering that GM a few years back was the largest business in the world ranked by sales and market capitalization. They are also loosing a very important component of what was going right at GM.
Here is a salute to a real car guy Bob Lutz! He is the chief product czar at General Motors. He is the person that is directly responsible for bring on some of GM's best new products. He made the announcement that he will be leaving GM last week. The products that he as brought to life are the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Pontiac G-8 and the Chevrolet Volt.
I personally think he saw the writing on the wall. Under government supervision, he would not have a free reign to implement his visions of what an automobile should be. So, he would not be comfortable operating in that kind of restricted environment.
Bob Lutz has had a substantial automotive career working at Ford, Chrysler and BMW prior starting work at GM in 2001. Hopefully, he will continue working his magic at some other manufacturer. But, if not we will miss his automotive genius!
Here is a salute to a real car guy Bob Lutz! He is the chief product czar at General Motors. He is the person that is directly responsible for bring on some of GM's best new products. He made the announcement that he will be leaving GM last week. The products that he as brought to life are the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Pontiac G-8 and the Chevrolet Volt.
I personally think he saw the writing on the wall. Under government supervision, he would not have a free reign to implement his visions of what an automobile should be. So, he would not be comfortable operating in that kind of restricted environment.
Bob Lutz has had a substantial automotive career working at Ford, Chrysler and BMW prior starting work at GM in 2001. Hopefully, he will continue working his magic at some other manufacturer. But, if not we will miss his automotive genius!
Hi Peter .. Sounds like a genius .. in a sad market - he must be devastated with the way the world is changing. As you say he needs to retain his creativity and I'm sure he'll find an outlet for that energy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that bit of news - Hilary: Be Positive Be Happy
Hilary,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for visiting my blog and signing on as a follower! Hopefully, I can give you the kind of information that your looking for in the automobile world. I plan on some new posts about some of my favorite cars - Jaguars, Astin Martins, and perhaps a Bentley Let me know if you have any requests.
Best Regards
Pete
Yea Pete .. an Aston Martin would be perfect! I used to have MG sports cards (red) in my youth! .. & a Sunbeam Alpine .. so I've been lucky .. and one day (soon) I'll have a customised for me car .. not one off the shelf .. though the little thing goes along happily!
ReplyDeleteI learnt to drive aged 15 in one of the first minis & then we had a mini cooper .. and at the same time an Austin Princess - a 'semi posh' automatic .. so by 17 I'd done quite a lot car wise.
My grandfather, I understand from my uncle, had his cars custom built .. he bought the different bits of the cars from specialists .. eg engine makers, chassis makers .. some more detail on that kind of build in the 1910s - 30s .. would be quite interesting.
I might even learn a bit about cars .. sounds fun .. thanks Hilary: Be Positive Be Happy
Hilary,
ReplyDeleteYou have given me some wonderful ideas! I am a real fan of British cars! What about a series about the Aston Martins?
The Aston Martin DB5 & Vantage that James Bond used would be used to start. Then I could follow with the DB9 and Vanquish.
You also mentioned the Mini's what a fun lot of cars. Actually, I could do a whole series. Sounds like you have some great automotive history in your family.
Thanks for the super ideas!
Pete