Do you need to be a "car guy" to run an automobile company? Not according to Micheline Maynard, author of The End of Detroit. Writing for The New York Times, Ms. Maynard defines a car guy as someone who "can be credited for inspiring or developing anything on the roads today." GM lifer Rick Wagoner will not be pleased to hear he's been excluded from the club– despite overseeing the introduction of more than 35 new models during his seven-year tenure. Anyway, given the current state of the American auto industry, you'd think Ms Maynard would be arguing for car guys. Nope. "Car guys were responsible for Detroit's triumphs, they also steered the companies into trouble with errors in judgment that included relying too heavily on big sport-utility vehicles." Hmmm. That seems like that's more of a "beancounter" decision than a "car guy" move. Just sayin'.
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Maybe she is throwing her rocks at Bob Lutz. He never saw a tire that was too big, and SUV that was too brutish or an engine with too much power for the job. I don’t think she is talking about the engineer-car-guys who run Honda.
How about Honda CEOs, who are oftentimes car and motorcycle guys, having gotten their sleeves dirty in competitive racing? NYT’s car blog has this entry about the current CEO there:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/question-of-leadership/
They’re blaming their SUV addiction on auto enthusiasts? Give me a break. With the exception of the Corvette team, I see very little evidence of enthusiasm for any form of automotive design at either GM, Ford or Chrysler.
I’m all for “fresh blood” to re-vitalize a company, but the big 2.8 headhunters don’t even seem to bother to look at car-guys for the big appointments.
Most of these guys wouldn’t know the first thing about running a muffler shop, let alone an internation auto manufacturer.
As for Bob Lutz, I think he’s just too far removed from everyday reality to be considered a “car guy”.
Generally, I think the North American way of doing big business is flawed. Its become to abstract. Numbers juggled to produce flawed results. Vision and innovation are inconsequential when compared to the ability to “work the room”.
Basically, they have too many “popular” quarterbacks and not enough of the geeky math team.
car guys don’t like suvs. suv guys like suvs.
I’m a major “Car Guy” I own many cars and I own an SUV and believe me you don’t want to square off against it on the street, strip or road course. It’ll eat almost anything for lunch, Covettes, Vipers, Mustangs, whatever it wants to.
While no one was looking, non-oil guys have been taking over that industry. The oil industry though was a model of efficiency, that now, under MBA’s are even more efficient. That is – they make more money while finding and producing less product.
OTOH, the car industry is plain sucking. They need outsiders badly. Not only can the big 3 not make money, they can’t make that many desirable products.
My solution is to take all the oil MBA’s out of Houston and send them to Detroit. We will get more and cheaper fuel, and hopefully, not have to subsidize UAW pensions with out taxes.
Do you need to be a “car guy”?
Contrary to what enthusiasts would like to believe, no, you don’t.
What you do need are (a) some folks who understand complex manufacturing, (b) some other folks who know how to figure out what customers will want and then translate that into product, and (c) a good brand that the consumer comprehends and likes. (If you can come up with (d) some sort of “special sauce” that makes your brand really stand out, so much the better.) A love of pistons and valves is not required, but you had better know something about how they get forged and assembled.
A CEO should be a good strategist who probably knows more about production than does your average finance guy, but who can also see where the market is headed. He doesn’t have to love cars, but he had better love the idea of pleasing customers with cars that they want.
Maybe this is what Jeff Bell meant when he left Chrysler to be a marketer and not a “car guy”…
I miss the muscle car era. 1965-1970.