Based on an Autoweek account it seems that not everyone at GM fears the reaper. Bob Lutz clearly doesn’t, meaning a thousand maximum sycophants are going to have to learn a joke that doesn’t involve the government being here to help. At a recent Automotive Press Association luncheon Lutz characterized the PTFOA’s influence as “benevolent oversight and two-way communication between Washington and the auto industry.” And who doesn’t like a good listener with deep pockets? As Lutz delicately puts it, “jeez, it only took 30 years for somebody to finally figure it out.” So when did Mr “Global Warming’s A Crock Of Shit” become such a fan of soft socialism?
According to Autoweek, Lutz “began to warm to the task-force members when they visited Detroit and seemed more interested in the 560-hp Cadillac CTS coupe than in GM’s more economical offerings. ‘That was sort of the moment that I began to take heart,’” Lutz reportedly said. Really Bob? You sure it wasn’t the moment you found out that the taxpayer investment in GM would top $50 billion? Or how about the moment you decided to quit? Unless the much-rumored “Pelosimobiles” turn out to be 560hp CTS coupes, this one will stay filed under “cheap talk on the way out the door.”
The PTFOA can suck it. Americans don’t want the government to decide what they drive. Not to mention the fact that the trucks Americans do want to drive are far more profitable than the little shitboxes the government wants Detroit to build. I may have missed something here, but aren’t GM and Chrysler desperately in need of profits?
Sorta conjures up another time in history when a politician promising hope and change convinced an auto manufacturer that what was really needed was a “people’s car,” doesn’t it?
According to Autoweek, Lutz “began to warm to the task-force members when they visited Detroit and seemed more interested in the 560-hp Cadillac CTS coupe than in GM’s more economical offerings. ‘That was sort of the moment that I began to take heart,’” Lutz reportedly said.
It must have been an exciting moment, Bob, like when Mao would arrive to inspect a “Model Peoples’ Commune.”
So when did Mr “Global Warming’s A Crock Of Shit” become such a fan of soft socialism?
The answer to this is almost exactly 8 months after our “CEO President” became a fan of not so soft socialism.
Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie while looking around for a rock. Except in this case Lutz’s version of a rock is a nice severance package.
Putz’s rebadged Holdens and Opels have left GM with a sub 15% marketshare.
Putz follows Waygoner out the door several months later.
For the sake of us ground dwellers, I just hope the old codger doesn’t pack it when he’s in that big heavy metal dart.
Altoids – they’re curiously strong. Sorry, I’m a little punch drunk from this week’s inevitabilities
“Americans don’t want the government to decide what they drive.”
False. Americans in the majority can’t find their bleeps with both hands. That’s why we have Obama.
Ohhhh yeahhhh…. Bob’s suuuure GM’s gonna turn it all around by selling two dozen 560hp Cadillac coupes every month and he’s glad the PTFOA is all buying in on that.
Say, Bob, have you noticed Toyota’s kicking your ass with a $16K car that has about 120hp? Food for thought, big guy. Do you even know you offer a car called the “Cobalt” that is alleged to compete in this space?
superbadd75, “Not to mention the fact that the trucks Americans do want to drive are far more profitable than the little shitboxes the government wants Detroit to build.”
You mean those trucks with the gigundo rebates? Too many people have woken up to the idea that gas will be painfully expensive from time to time and being married to a 17mpg commuter vehicle could be unpleasant.
By the way, small is not necessarily the same as “shitbox.” I mean, it is at GM but GM is less and less important as days go by.
Comparing the transformation of Hyundai’s product line-up to GM during Maximum Bob’s tenure as its vaunted product wizard, I am reminded of the Shakespearean line:
…a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
I doubt Lutz has retained his flight status for the Alpha trainer – that would take some really nice connections, Banana Republic style.
Reality looks better with the political glasses off. Since private enterprise in Detroit blew the place up, they went crawling and (eventually) driving to D.C. to beg – please, please, please – for help.
D.C. responded.
No – the gummint isn’t going to decide what cars to build, it’s just trying to salvage something from the wreckage that Wagoner and Lutz created.
Saving GM is a sinkhole – should have just been left alone. (When private investors walk away, you know there’s nothing to salvage.) The fact that the new crew in D.C. get this millstone around its neck is not their doing.
At any rate, methinks what’s happening to the world auto industry is actually a good thing. Cars and mobility will be a lot more fun a few years from now.
If GM made a 560HP car for about 16K they’d mop the floor with Toyota. I’d buy two just in case our dickless, oops I meant fearless leaders tried to outlaw them.
Anyone know whether or not it’d be illegal to buy CAFE-compromised cars, replace/modify the engines for performance, and resell them for a profit? Sounds like a potentially lucrative business.
reclusive_in_nature,
GM has a tough time building a 120hp Cobalt for $16K.
Stein,
In a recent interview, El Lutzbo said he had sold the Alpha. He said something to the effect, times are tough and one must economize where one can.
He said he kept his other jet. Tough times, indeed, when you’re down to just one personal jet.
The depth of the tragedy created by unbridled greed and stupidity makes the efforts to reverse it seem even more like “socialism”.
Unfortunately, the adage “In for a penny… in for a pound” applies here.
If the PTFOA gives up now, what was it for? They have to finish what they started, no matter how convoluted the mess gets.
It’s getting ugly now; I pray that the desired result (a smaller, yet independent auto industry) is achieved, despite the naysayers.