Bob Lutz to Retire

Bob Lutz, former Chrysler Corporation President and Vice Chairman of GM’s global product development division, will retire at the end of this year at the age of 76. Lutz was hired at the age of 60 to create a new product renaissance at GM. Lutz is leaving a company that is just barely surviving with the help of $13.4 billion in emergency federal loans. GM sales are currently at their lowest point in 26 years. Lutz’s main contribution to GM was less in the realm of new product development and more about globalizing GM’s market share.

In 2004, Lutz pushed GM to sell the GTO in Australia. Even though that specific idea did not go as well as Lutz hoped, it did convince GM that the global marketplace was an arena in which GM products could excel. Lutz still regards taking GM global as his proudest accomplishment, saying, “The work on the GTO with Australia forged an important bond and got us to unify everything: common processes, and common testing. I am proud to say that was my initiative.”