Bob Lutz is a car guy’s car executive. He has worked at every major domestic automaker (including a stint as President of Chrysler) and has had his fingers in the development of some of the most important and inspired cars of the past twenty years. He also has a penchant for saying what is on his mind and breaking stride with the corporate march. We like Bob. And we are going to miss him.
CNBC reported that yesterday at the Geneva Auto Show, Lutz announced he was officially retiring. Again.
Picture: GM
As you may remember, Lutz announced that he would retire last year and stick around as an adviser. That lasted about three months before Bob was back on GM’s payroll. In recent months, Bob has remarked that the G8 wasn’t dead, that GM will lose money on hybrids, and that global warming was a crock of crap (and not in those words). But whatever your opinion of Bob’s opinions, you cannot argue that the man has left an indelible mark on the way cars are designed.
Lutz’s work includes a veritable dream garage of any car guy. He helped push along development of the Dodge Viper as well as the Ford Explorer, which kicked off the SUV craze in this country. He was also a huge proponent of the GTO and Camaro, a car that is already paying dividend for GM. But lest you think he was all about performance, Lutz also pushed for the Volt, the extended-range electric car that could either make or break GM’s comeback. He was a modern day DeLorean (the designer, not the car).
We salute you, Maximum Bob.
Linear Mode
