Fritz was and is an outstanding executive, and I’m very sorry to see him go. You can argue there never is a good time for any of this, but in this case, the timing is particularly inopportune… He guided General Motors through perhaps the most difficult period in its history. I think all of us were surprised and the whole General Motors team I think is genuinely saddened over what transpired

GM Marketing boss “Maximum” Bob Lutz eulogizes his erstwhile boss at the Los Angeles Auto Show [via DetN]. Historians of the Lutzian oeuvre should note that this quote represents MaxBob’s attempt at exercising “enormous skill in the non-answering of [Fritz-related] questions.”

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You need to go to your toughest market. The state of California is the biggest nut to crack for Buick. Californians love their Toyotas, they love their luxury cars, their BMWs and their Priuses, Buick is not even on their radar screen. These people don’t know this Regal. Picking the L.A. Auto Show demonstrates some confidence we have in the product and in the brand.

So says GM’s Susan Docherty in the Detroit News. Of course, it also shows how screwed the Buick brand is. California on its own is one of the largest markets for cars in the world, and it’s also home to some of the most virulently anti-domestic-brand sentiment in the country. Which explains why Buick is trying to win over the Golden State with its first-ever imported model. But as Docherty says, “One car doesn’t transform a brand. You have to have a series of successes so one, plus one, plus one equals more than three.” Meanwhile, while Buick tries to convince Californians that they don’t actually want a Lexus, everyone who thought they knew and loved the Buick brand will just be confused.