Bob Lutz: Discouraged But Not Dissuaded

We've missed Bob Lutz out here in blogsylvania, so it was good to read today's post on GM Fastlane.

But, before I comment on that post, a story.  We were visited by our old friends Blaugra and Salty D over Thanksgiving weekend.  At one point, the conversation turned to blogs and D asked me, "Do you know this Bob Lutz guy?  Why do you write about him all the time?"

I chuckled and told D that no, I don't know Mr. Lutz personally, but that, as a long-time student of design, I have followed his career.  Watching him get into blogging only deepened my interest, especially since GM's desperately needed turnaround seems almost wholly predicated on the need for more compelling cars.  From where I sit, that means the company will rise or fall on its design.  (I suppose one could say that the long-term damage from structural economic difficulties is too serious to be reversed no matter what the company's current stewards do, but, I'm an optimist by nature, so hope springs eternal.)

And, today's post is a case in point.  In it, Bob tells us that 2005's been a little bumpy:

To say that 2005 has been a wild ride at GM is quite possibly the understatement of this young millennium.

He goes on to describe some of his personal experience:

I can’t help but notice the perceptions and generalities I keep hearing about our cars and trucks, from pundits and public alike — even here on the blog. You often hear our products collectively criticized but individually praised, and it’s discouraging. You’ll hear an “expert” or “industry observer” throw out a blanket observation like “GM just doesn’t have any vehicles that people want.” Then you’ll just as often hear someone praising the Chevy HHR, or read a positive review of the Impala, or the Solstice, or any of our other recent launch products.

OK, let's stop there. 

Here's a senior corporate executive talking about his own emotional reaction to negative reactions to his company's products. 

Do you believe him, or do you think this is jive?

I've spent a lot of time with a lot of senior executives in my career.  People who haven't, often think that reviews, customer reactions or sales performance don't really matter to business leaders, except insofar as those things affect bonuses.  That's not my experience.  My experience has been that committed leaders (and I think Lutz has shown he's that, for sure) live and die by results. They agonize over failures and get turned on by successes.  Business isn't a game for the committed leader, it's life. 

Later in the post, Lutz ticks off a list of GM's current winners: the Buick Lucerne, the Chevy Impala, Cadillac DTS, Hummer H3, Pontiac Torrent, Saturn Vue and Buick LaCrosse.  Now, I have no idea if these cars are as successful as Bob says they are, but he has a rationale for each. 

Then he closes with this:

These are the things I think about when I hear we don’t make any cars and trucks people want. Yes, we need to make more of them. No question about it. But the truth is, we do have products that people want, that people like and that people are buying. We still have a ways to go, obviously, to change perceptions. But, based on the cars and trucks we have now and the ones yet to come, I think we’re doing what we need to do to achieve that. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record… I can’t recommend a test-drive strongly enough!

I've said before that I believe Lutz blogs for internal as well as external audiences. GM's people have to be feeling shaky as hell as '06 opens, and a leader's job is to keep them focused on the things they're doing right as well as the things they have to fix. Citing his own (realistic) emotional reactions to a tough year that holds out hope for a better future is just about all anyone can ask from a leader in Lutz's position. That, and a little salesmanship, of course!

I, for one, hope '06 is kinder to him and his fellows at GM than '05 was.

Tags: GM Fastlane Blog Bob Lutz

Comments

[SALTY D]

I have finally made it to the BIG TIME.

[Tom]

D, you're definitely BIG TIME. Thanks for stoppin' by.

[Moon]

You know, Tom, you can personally help his '06 be better when the lease on that Audi is up!! :-)

[Tom]

You raise an interesting issue, Moon. The last GM vehicle I owned or leased was a 1979 Chevrolet. Right about then, the quality differential between American and non-American manufactured cars just got too great to ignore. Since then, I've driven Japanese and, more recently, German cars. When I do drive American cars, as rentals or borrowing someone else's, I still experience them as inferior in "road feel" to what I'm used to. Now, in all fairness, I haven't driven a GM equivalent to my Audi A-6 (which I assume might be a Cadillac), so I'm probably not comparing like fruits.

But this highlights what a big problem losing customers is. Once we're gone, it's very hard to get us back.

Thanks for the comment. Hope you're enjoying your new TV!

[Moon]

The new TV is outstanding! I need to find a job where I can work from home.

I think you represent the biggest problem facing the domestic automakers aside from health care costs. The perception that consumers formed about the domestics in the seventies and eighties...they need to reverse 20 years of thinking. The fact is that the Big Three are building vehicles that are as good, if not better, than the most of the imports these days. Go to any of the quality and satisfaction surveys and the evidence is overwhelming that the domestics have turned it around and are building great cars and trucks now. At the same time though, the imports continue to build excellent vehicles as well so you've got all these people who drive foreign, are happy with them, and may still have this misconception that the domestics are inferior. They just need to find a way to convince people to look at the domestics when they break out their checkbook and it's definitely a tough task. I personally don't see why they aren't heavily publicizing these independent quality surveys more...other than individual word-of-mouth, I don't know how else you get to the Audi drivers of the world with that message. It's got to be frustrating for someone like Lutz who clearly takes it personally.

By the way, 2001 Chevy Tahoe, over 108,000 miles - aside from replacing both side mirrors, I've done nothing outside of scheduled maintenance and it still purrs like a kitten every morning when I turn that key. There you go, Mr. Lutz, I'm helping you out!!

[paulg01]

I don't feel that Bob Lutz is personally agonizing nor compelled by any of the products that GM makes. On the level that Lutz roams, decisions are based on numbers and shareholders' expectations (his included). No CEO is getting excited about a company's product, otherwise, why would GM not be designing and marketing more exciting, compelling, world-beating products?

With Toyota poised to overtake GM as the largest automaker in the world in less than five years, Lutz and his cronies are looking for parachutes. GM had the opportunity 20 years ago to make great strides in design and innovations. Like the U.S. steel industry before them, they failed to take advantage of their opportunity to dominate the market.

It's great that Bob Lutz has the sense to use the innovative communications technology that weblogs possess. Maybe he can direct that same innovative sense to GM product design and development.

[Tom]

Thanks for your comment, Paul.

As I said in my original post, I have spent a good deal of time with very senior corporate executives who base decisions on more than simple algorithms and self-interest. I don't know Lutz personally, but I surmise from both his passionate design history and his style of communication on the blog, that the company's success matters to him.

No doubt about the fact that GM's been asleep as the switch for decades. I think they'd be much further ahead than they are today if Lutz had been in charge of design for all those years.