Lutz says GM bankruptcy "out of the question"
Speaking at the New York Auto Show Wednesday, General Motors' vice chairman in charge of soundbites and global
product development, Bob Lutz, said that "Bankruptcy is totally out of the question. We have never contemplated
it." Lutz went on to say that GM's restructuring efforts are "on schedule," and gave a ringing endorsement for CEO Rick Wagoner as "the right man to lead GM and to continue the turnaround."
Peering deeper into his crystal ball, Lutz does not see a Delphi strike in GM's future. He must share that crystal ball with Ford's Mark Fields (see our Wednesday post here), because, like Fields, Lutz also sees a continued decline in U.S. market share for his company. Lutz suggested that GM's market share will stabilize in the low- to mid-20 percent range. (GM's 2005 market share was 26 percent.)
[Source: Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Vinny 8:34PM (4/13/2006)
Does anyone know how much GM spends on NASCAR? I'm just curious. I'm not suggesting they pull out of this race series since there is tremendous fan loyalty to the brands in NASCAR.
Also, what other series are they in? I know they just pulled out of Indy Racing League.
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Finished.Law.School 8:50PM (4/13/2006)
Lutz will keep saying that as GM continues to lose tons of money each and every quarter.
And he is trumpeting that useless bastard Wagoner because Wagoner threatened to quit if the board did not support him and the board has their heads so far up their asses that they have no clue as to what to do if he quits.
It will be of no matter in the long run considering how fast Wagoner is running GM into the ground...
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WillDaThrill 8:53PM (4/13/2006)
It wouldn't be smart to pull out of NASCAR. Although they spend money on it, the investment turns good pennies for them as well as the other manufaturers i.e. tickets, gear and product murchandising.
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Finished.Barber.College 10:03PM (4/13/2006)
Anyone privy to what's in the pipe knows GM has nothing but upside from here. Toyota's quality is slipping fast and everyone's starting to figure out the long held industry secret that all of the European makes are expensive junk. Honda is clearly out of fresh ideas and the Koreans are selling the appeal of cheap. GM's best times are clearly ahead.
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Gundar 10:45PM (4/13/2006)
"3. Anyone privy to what's in the pipe knows GM has nothing but upside from here. Toyota's quality is slipping fast and everyone's starting to figure out the long held industry secret that all of the European makes are expensive junk. Honda is clearly out of fresh ideas and the Koreans are selling the appeal of cheap. GM's best times are clearly ahead."
BWHAHAHAHAHAH! Toyota's quality is "slipping," huh? What are you smoking? I'm not sure who's had a bigger break with reality, you or "Putz." GM is a Pleistocene dinosaur unwilling (or unable) to make the tough choices necessary for its survival. [Yeah, let's make some more redundant product lines, like a Pontiac version of the Chevy Cobalt to go with the Pontiac Solstace and Saturn Sky and Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon - yeah, THAT'S a good idea!]
Face it, the landscape has been overrun with smaller, more efficient, more adaptable "mammals." GM is dead already, let it go. The smartest thing any consumer can do now is NOT buy ANYTHING this sputtering heart attack of a company builds. Oh wait, nobody IS. Bwhahahahahahah.
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DarkKnight67 10:52PM (4/13/2006)
Gundar, what the hell do you call a Lexus ES, Avalon and Camry? Or a Highlander and RX? If that isn't using one platform multiple times I don't understand the concept.
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alex 11:00PM (4/13/2006)
# 3 your delusional, just like Lutz- GM's big inspiration was just launched- The Full Size Utilities- and thats it.
It appears there are some interesting crossovers coming like the Saturn Relay, and the Buick Enclave, and some GMC edition- then that is it. GM is not innovating the area of Cars at all. The Aura is just the G6.
GM has blown there load, there is nothing substantial coming that will fix there crapped out business model. They have always been making money on Trucks and Suv's and breaking even on cars. Now they cant even sell those cash cows to save their life.
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Rastus 11:04PM (4/13/2006)
"Just around the corner...you just WAIT until what's in the pipeline come out...it'll blow your socks off!!"
How tired...how F"N TIRED. The Accord has been out for what?...25 years? In that time, GM's "Competitor" has been...hold on:
CITATION!!, then Celebrity!!! (and if you're REally cool, the "EURO" version, ...then wait, LUMINA, then MALIBU (again, the COOL version being the MAXX...whooooahhh!!!)....and that's just the CHEVY versions.
SATURN!!...SL1 and SL2!!! then the L100 was it? what about this NEW one coming ...coming down the pipes??
And wait, wait...hold your condoms, people...then there was the OLDSMOBILES ...Cutlas, Calais, Cutlass Supremes, etc...
And the Buicks? I'm sure there were 3 or 7 or so Buicks which were designed to "take on the competition", right?? Oh, of course they did, Come ON!!
No, no Pontiacs were designed to take on Honda, ...afterall this is the Excitement!! Division. Where's my Sunbird...I want my SUNBIRD!!!
>>>>>>All the while, I just want my ACCORD!! Plain and F'n simple...
Uh huh, just you WAIT...I'm gonna GIT YOUSE SUKKA, HONDA!!! HAHAHAHA...too f'n funny... :)
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Rastus 11:16PM (4/13/2006)
Oh yeah, add ION, and Achieva....and Century....and I know there's about 7 or so more out there.
GM blows chunks and sucks the big donkey wad. So does this grey haired "Product Czar".
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Hulk Hogan 11:19PM (4/13/2006)
I have to admit, My Escalade is a piece of sh&t. But i just buy cause I'm the holloywood crowd. But if GM goes bankrupt, you better believe i'm getting off the train.
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Leonard 11:24PM (4/13/2006)
This Lutz fool is probably walking down the streets talking to himself. Somebody needs to tell him, this is not the 1930's anymore and you have competition now. Wake up and smell the coffee you old senile chump.
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zam2000 2:20AM (4/14/2006)
Isn't Lutz the same guy in the "Scary Movies" series ? How about "The naked gun" and "white men can't jump" ???
Scary Movies 4 is coming out soon !!!, I guess they drive GM, that's why it's scary.
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Theinformed 6:21AM (4/14/2006)
For the ignorant, Lutz just happens to be the best design man in the business, and yes Toyota was trying to hire him from Chrysler when he went to GM. Give it up bashers, Lutz is changing the face of GM's product line, resulting in cardiac arrest among the Japanese fetish groupies. Toyota's glory will be fleeting, they have awakened the sleeping giant and it about to stomp the sh@t out of the rice eating pretenders.
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laserwizard 8:30AM (4/14/2006)
Lutz continues to make promises he cannot keep. His efforts to date with cars and trucks aren't stellar and no one is flocking to a GM showroom to buy their vehicles in abundance. While much has been made about the improvements of GM interiors from a styling standpoint, they remain some of the worst in the industry to live in. From the flaw of Cobalt and Ion for having absolutely no rear seat room to the trend of GM interiors to have the dashboard where the average males' knees want to be, GM is not improving from an ergometric standpoint. Whether the dash occupies kneespace or the center island does, GM has an obvious flaw not shared by most of its competitors.
Quality-wise, I cannot believe GM has improved anything. From a sampling of the paint and metal work on the new Tahoe, I can say that GM has gone backwards - thinnly applied paint, ripples in door sheetmetal from stamping problems, and pervasive orange peel, the GMT-900 is worse looking quality wise than its predecessor.
And while Lutz can say his company has improved, the fact remains that a better GM car does not a better car or truck make; GM, being the big kid on the block, should be building the best cars and trucks in their segments and they aren't. Styling remains in bad taste, dull, or just plain juvenile. No longer a leader in design, GM is just throwing stuff out to see if it will sell - even if it has to Mee Too Cruiser a Chrysler, steal a Taurus and slap a whale face on it to produce a LaTosse, or steal a Passat and throw a whale face on it and call it Lucerne. Pontiac is in a downward styling spiral with awful shapes and not one shred of attention to details. Cadillac is now looking ancient with its bad taste hatchet job. Chevrolet has no identity. And Hummer is simply a Jeep with a little tweaking. Overall, Lutz has done nothing to warrant calling him a car guru. I'm confident that GM could hire an elementary school art class to do just as well as Lutz has done.
And nothing in their pipeline will change the fact that GM has forgotten how to build great cars. For every Enclave you will have a G5.
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Theinformed 9:09AM (4/14/2006)
Lazerwizard,
You are just plain full of crap, nothing you have stated in your tiresome rant has an ounce of validity.
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Theinformed 9:13AM (4/14/2006)
Also wizard if you are not aware that Lutz is the foremost design man in the business, you know very little to zilch about the auto industry.
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Puff Chippy 9:24AM (4/14/2006)
"The smartest thing any consumer can do now is NOT buy ANYTHING this sputtering heart attack of a company builds. Oh wait, nobody IS."
Maybe you should read up on the auto industry a little before spewing your rant. GM is the largest car maker in the world and sells cars in over 200 different countries so yes, somebody is buying their cars. Live in the past if you like, channel your lifes pent up frustrations towards GM or the unions or whatever other cause you're against, but don't let your hate cloud your vision. Any real student of the auto industry knows #4 above is right. Open your eyes and you may just see it too.
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Howard Kerr 9:42AM (4/14/2006)
Is Mr. Lutz saying GM is not even considering bankruptcy because he heard his crosstown rival say the same thing about Ford...just a few days ago? Or is it because, for some unknown reason he thinks Mr. Wagoner will pull something out of the air at the last minute? PSST...Mr. Lutz and Mr. Wagoner, your team is in sudden death overtime NOW, if you really have a "grand plan" YESTERDAY would have been a good time to implement it. It will involve more than just selling off bits of GM all the while "parroting" we are not going under, we are not going under, we are not going under.
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alex 10:33AM (4/14/2006)
To #16- "Theinformed", you have bought into the Lutz con job, like all of the GM board of directors. Lutz is just a suit, he is not a designer. He did not design squat, as an executive he only works to drive changes and approve designs.
Lutz has been a charming cigar smoking, former marine, helicopter flying legend, that people want to think is the Great Pumpkin who is going to come to the pumpkin patch and save GM. But he really has a mixed history at other automakers.
Let me give you just one example AWD GM has none!!!-The Dodge Caliber vs the Chevy HHR, same price, but AWD is an option on the Caliber.
This applies to Clean Diesels, Hybrids, 5 and 6 speed automatics. Lutz has done more harm than good to GM because he has taken the focus off of building substance in the products, and just pitching styling.
To top it off, his emphasis has been on the least important vehicles in the line up, the Solstice, Sky, STS, HHR, the GTO. All combined, those vehicles dont sell either the Accord, or the Camry, or the Civic, or even the Impala.
Luts has sold himself well, and has done a disservice to GM. He and Wagoner should both resign. I dont care how many promises they make, and how cute and trustworthy they behave. Results matter, and not Excuses.
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Ryan 10:45AM (4/14/2006)
If they are going to expect to settle in the 20% market share range, you can for sure kiss some more brands away. What is that like 2.8% market share divided equally between all of there brands? What a joke.
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