Word: lutz
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...Lutz and GM North America president Gary Cowger have also reviewed GM's entire product portfolio, axing some models and slightly delaying others so that their designs can be tweaked. On the basis of a few Lutz remarks, for instance, designers have, by one account, "changed every millimeter" of a future Cadillac STS, in particular massaging its roof line to give it a sportier, more European look...
Still, the test of Lutz's magic will not come until these cars hit the road in several years. Meantime, the company faces daunting challenges. One is a testy relationship with the autoworkers' union. Another is that despite a hefty profit margin on trucks, GM's overall global operating margins last year were a paltry 1%, to Toyota's 7%, according to Morgan Stanley's Girsky. Today's weak yen worsens that situation by boosting Japan's dollar profits even further. GM's vast overseas operations, with the exception of its joint venture in China, remain a disparate amalgam...
Looking forward, auto-industry analysts are encouraged that CEO Wagoner, 48, has brought in outsiders like Lutz and chief financial officer John Devine (recruited from Ford a year ago). The hope is that they will be able to energize GM's vast talent pool, the engineers and designers largely ignored by bureaucratic prior regimes...
...Lutz believes GM will be a turnaround story like Chrysler by the time he leaves in three years. "This gang has just the esprit de corps and even more capability than we had back then," he says. He acknowledges that once he left Chrysler, the company lost sight of its high-design, low-cost mission. "I realize now that what I have to do here is leave behind a system that works." Really, that's Rick Wagoner's job, but now he'll get a jump start from Bob Lutz...
Senior writer FRANK GIBNEY got an exclusive look at General Motors' new car line from its popular vice chairman Bob Lutz. One of the brains behind Chrysler's revival in the 1990s, Lutz has been brought in to deliver the hit parade of new products that his bosses hope will revive the world's largest car company. Talk with Frank on Monday...