Bob Lutz on know-nothing analysts and "cars" of the future

Bob Lutz, vice chairman of General Motors Co., was in feisty form
 earlier this month during  an interview with Chicago Tribune columnist Greg Burns.

He expressed frustration about ideas advanced by Wall Street analysts and business reporters, while defending his new-product development pipeline: It’s “jammed full,” he said. And as for the car of the future? There isn’t one. But there will be “cars” of the future.

An edited Q-and-A transcript follows:

Q-Is the outlook for new products as troubled as some Wall Street analysts suggest?

A- “These guys don't know. They absolutely don't know. They're just guessing. They don't know what our product line is. We've got the pipeline jammed full of stuff. Every vehicle is headed for complete replacement, six-speed automatic gear boxes throughout.”

Q-Has GM skimped on product development?

A-“No. Nothing could be further from the truth. We did some three- and six-month delays. Those cars have all come out. That’s behind us. The focus of the product plan was maintained.”

Q-Are GM’s plans for North American production too optimistic?

A-“I keep getting asked: We see that General Motors is boosting North American production by 40 percent over last year. Stuffing the dealers full of cars they can't sell sounds like the bad, old General Motors. Some reporters compared U.S. production this year to global North American production including Canada. The real number? It's up a little bit, up only through the fact that we were producing below demand this year. Next year we will be producing to demand.”

Q-What is your market-share target?

A-“We have no market-share target. One of the mistakes this company made in the past is that it felt that market share was some sort of sacrosanct thing that you spend a lot of money acquiring...like seizing an objective and holding it. Market share is volatile from month to month. Buying market share for strategic purposes is totally idiotic. We had 21 percent share in October and that was not by performing any unnatural acts.”

Q-What will the GM car fleet look like in 2020 or 2030, and what fuel will it run on?

A-“It will be a blend. It's going to break down by specific function. The urban commuter with daily driving of under 100 miles will go all-electric. For medium distances, it will be something like the Chevrolet Volt, electric plus an additional 200-to-300 miles through gas or ethanol fuels. In highway trucks, it’s impossible to envisage any other solution than diesel. That’s by far the most efficient.”

Q-What about making vehicles more connected electronically?

A-“Technically we can do that now. OnStar calls 911 if the air bags go off. Diagnostic emails come once a month. We have turn-by-turn navigation. We can make the car into a mobile office with email-to-voice, voice-to-email. Facebook, YouTube. The technology is here today. Is the driver going to have any time left over to actually drive the car?”

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