Lutz goes to bat for Wagoner, GM

[Chuck]

“My sense of frustration is that all of this is hopelessly out of date,” he said. “Much of what I read and hear is reflective of the criticism that would have been legitimate of General Motors in the 1980s, but not today.”

AP - Dec 8, 2008

Granted - I'm not an auto analyst, but didn't these things happen in the 2000s? Massive promotion of Hummer and Escalade? Axing EV1? Dismissing hybrids as recently as 2006 by Lutz himself? -- Ed.

From the start of its bid for emergency federal aid from Congress, General Motors has presented a mixed message — both apologizing for past mistakes and defiantly insisting that its problems are due to the financial crisis.

It is a strategy that frustrated and even angered some lawmakers in recent weeks.
G.M.’s blunt-spoken vice chairman, Robert A. Lutz, would like to clear up any confusion.

On Monday, the 76-year-old Mr. Lutz gave his first interviews since the Big Three’s campaign for a bailout began, and he dispensed with the polite, analytical approach that his boss, Rick Wagoner, the chief executive, used during four rocky hearings before Congress.… [Read More]

[Indigo]

How can Lutz and Waggonger NOT be to blame?! That's like saying the captain and navigator had nothing to do with the sinking of the Titanic.

When gasoline was still $4.25/gallon, they were still pumping out 13 MPG hulks at full blast. They sneered at the idea that Honda makes a decent chunk of change off the Fit. GM could have had the Volt ten years ago if Lutz/Waggoner hadn't solt the EV1 patents to the Saudi Royal Family. Instead of spending money on R&D to make more fuel-efficient vehicles, Lutz/Waggoner hired teams of lawyers to fight every positive piece of automotive legislation. Oh, and it wasn't until 2007 that they started giving a damn abot quality again. Priot to that, Lutz/Waggoner apparently felt that people with less than $50k to spend on a vehicle didn't deserve to have a car that didn't fall to pieces at 70,000 miles. With Honda and Toyota, it's very reasonable to get 120,000 miles from an $18,000 car.

Oh, and blaming the assembly line workers for GM's woes is about as good as the captain of the Titanic blaming the kitchen staff for the whole "ramming the iceberg at full speed" thing.

[Earthling]

Originally Posted by Indigo

With Honda and Toyota, it's very reasonable to get 120,000 miles from an $18,000 car.

I would double that number, with good maintenance. My '99 and '98 Civics are approaching 160K miles, and I see no reason why both won't make it to 300K miles.

Why that fossil Lutz is still drawing a paycheck is beyond me. Lutz and Waggoner should both go. Give them their two weeks notice. Just how badly do you have to screw up to get fired as an automaker bigshot? Lots and lots of people have been fired for much less than these two idiots are guilty of.

Harry

[southerncannuck]

How can exectutives command so much money when they perform so badly? I'm very average and pedestrian, and I would have done a better job than these nitwits.

[jkp1187]

Originally Posted by Indigo

Oh, and it wasn't until 2007 that they started giving a damn abot quality again. Priot to that, Lutz/Waggoner apparently felt that people with less than $50k to spend on a vehicle didn't deserve to have a car that didn't fall to pieces at 70,000 miles. With Honda and Toyota, it's very reasonable to get 120,000 miles from an $18,000 car.

I don't disagree with criticism of GM management (L & W clearly played their cards totally wrong at the beginning of the decade,) but just an observation -- I've had three cars by GM in my life, an '88 Chevy Celebrity (4 cyl), a '95 Chevy Beretta (4 cyl) and a '00 Chevy Impala (6 cyl). All of them made it past 120,000 miles without encountering significant problems. (Admittedly, the Beretta regularly had things go wrong with it after that point, but I beat on that thing, and put over 20k/year on it, and didn't take care of it very well at all b/c I was in school and didn't have the time or money.) The Celebrity went to 10 years/150k miles before I gave up on it, and the Impala is at 8.5 years/125k and has been almost trouble-free (nothing but regular maintenance.)

My examples are not statistically significant, of course, and I have no experience with Honda or Toyota to compare it against, but I've found that it's quite reasonable to get at least to 120k with a GM product (indeed, used GM products -- all three of them.)

I'm also very leery of Congress dictating management personnel to GM. I think that's a road we oughtn't go down.

[bnther]

The management at Toyota and Honda had the foresight to avoid this disaster, why should American automotive management be excluded from responsibility? I say Wagnor should be ousted, regardless of who 'officially' is to blame. Ultimately, the CEO is ALWAYS the one responsible, that's why they have the power to make command decisions.

And while were at it, let's get rid of that parasitic UAW! Let the workers make normal wages for awhile. I was always told, you do the job for the price you agreed on. If you have a problem with it, either find a new job or shut up. It amazes me to hear these people complain when they have soo much, comparatively speaking.