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Bob Lutz

Retired Vice Chairman, General Motors Corporation
Member, Lotus Advisory Council

A leader and innovator in the development of the first clean car.

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Biography

Bob Lutz is one of the most experienced and high-profile auto executives in the world. Having been in the business for almost 50 years, he has left an indelible mark on all three of the big US automakers — most recently GM, where he reinvigorated its previously undistinguished vehicle lineup.

Although known for building powerful, muscular automobiles, Bob Lutz is also a forward-thinking realist who has stated that the electrification of the automobile is inevitable. He was behind the development of the first clean car, Chevrolet's Volt, a battery powered electric car that can be charged by plugging into a home electrical outlet.

Bob's upcoming book is Icons and Idiots: Straight Talk on Leadership, available June 2013. In this management manifesto, Bob profiles the leaders that made the strongest impression on him throughout his forty-seven year career.

Known as Detroit’s "ultimate car guy," Bob is passionate in his desire to make his automobiles the best in the world, with unparalleled styling, performance, quality, and technical excellence.

He has championed the ascendancy of designers and engineers over the industry’s bean counters and MBAs, whom he feels bear much of the responsibility for Detroit’s downfall.

He has been the force behind the renaissance of fresh, bold designs and performance engineering in US cars — such as the Pontiac Solstice, Cadillac CTS, the re-designed Chevrolet Malibu, and the Dodge Viper.

Bob’s current book is Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business. The book is centered around the car industry so familiar to Bob. It’s about what happened to America’s competitiveness and why. Leaders who are predominantly motivated by financial reward, who bake that reward into the business plan and then manipulate the variables to hit the numbers. But Bob maintains it’s the enterprise that is focused on excellence and on providing superior value who will see revenue materialize and grow and be rewarded with good profits.

Car Guys was chosen for Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Best Business Book of 2011 long list.

Before joining GM, Bob is credited with spearheading the turnaround of the then-hamstrung Chrysler Corporation in the 1990s.

Bob Lutz’s knowledge of automobiles is matched only by his organizational know-how. He is celebrated for his legendary ability to manage the design and development of new, spirited vehicles in the face of bureaucratic opposition and organizational inertia.

He is also the author of an acclaimed book on his management philosophy that, as you would expect from Bob, challenges the conventional wisdom of the executive suite:

Guts: 8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business Leaders of our Time

"I’ve known Bob Lutz for over thirty-five years, and Guts reflects all the qualities that have made him one of the great car guys of our generation. As always, he tells it like it is, and that’s what makes his book such a compelling read."
— Lee Iacocca, former Chairman, Chrysler Corporation

"Bob has always been a charismatic leader, but he became a true businessman when he joined Chrysler. Guts is typical Lutz–it’s controversial, thought-provoking and, in the final analysis, it makes good business sense."
— Harold "Red" Poling, retired CEO, Ford Motor Company

A breath of fresh air in an industry known for its blandness and tenuous grasp on the changing realities of its market, Bob stands out as a gifted, bold, sometimes brash, always opinionated, and successful executive. He is a contributor to Forbes magazine.

Credentials

  • Member, Lotus Advisory Council, the British sports car manufacturer
  • Retired Vice-chairman, Global Product Development, General Motors Corporation
  • Former President, Chrysler Corporation
  • Former Vice President, Ford Motor Company
  • Former Executive Vice President, BMW
  • MBA, University of California at Berkeley
  • BA, Production Management, University of California at Berkeley
  • Fighter Pilot, US Marine Corps

Books

Icons and Idiots

Straight Talk on Leadership

Bob Lutz

A management manifesto from the acclaimed author of Car Guys vs. Bean Counters

When Bob Lutz retired from GM, after a forty-seven-year career in the car industry, he was one of the most revered leaders in his field. His previous book, Car Guys vs. Bean Counters, recounted his work to revitalize GM and restore drive and passion to the industry.

Now Lutz profiles the leaders — good, bad, and ugly — who made the strongest impression on him throughout his career. With a collection of shocking and sometimes hilarious anecdotes, he creates an entertaining manual of dos and don’ts for the aspiring leader.

The bizarre foibles and rank stupidity of many of his bosses were hardly unique to the car business. Lutz summarizes the positive leadership principles demonstrated or ignored by his bosses and shows what the rest of us can learn from them.

For instance, here’s Lutz on legendary Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca:

“I find it hard to comprehend a leader who feels threatened by subordinates who offer an honest opinion, who aren’t (dangerous) yes-men, who will steer the boss in the right direction. But beneath the commanding stage presence, the brilliant performances on TV, the boldness of his public statements, there was a side to Lee that was vulnerable and insecure.”

Portfolio Hardcover (June 4, 2013)

Car Guys vs. Bean Counters

The Battle for the Soul of American Business

Bob Lutz

A legend in the car industry reveals the philosophy that's starting to turn General Motors around.

In 2001, General Motors hired Bob Lutz out of retirement with a mandate to save the company by making great cars again. He launched a war against penny pinching, office politics, turf wars, and risk avoidance. After declaring bankruptcy during the recession of 2008, GM is back on track thanks to its embrace of Lutz's philosophy.

When Lutz got into the auto business in the early sixties, CEOs knew that if you captured the public's imagination with great cars, the money would follow. The car guys held sway, and GM dominated with bold, creative leadership and iconic brands like Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, GMC, and Chevrolet.

But then GM's leadership began to put their faith in analysis, determined to eliminate the "waste" and "personality worship" of the bygone creative leaders. Management got too smart for its own good. With the bean counters firmly in charge, carmakers (and much of American industry) lost their single-minded focus on product excellence. Decline followed.

Lutz's commonsense lessons (with a generous helping of fascinating anecdotes) will inspire readers at any company facing the bean counter analysis-paralysis menace.

Portfolio Hardcover (June 9, 2011)

Reviews

GM's Bob Lutz tells all – CNN Money
Why GM Couldn't Be Apple – The Atlantic
Book Review — Sports Car Digest

Guts

8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business Leaders of Our Time

Bob Lutz

What do you do with a book that’s filled with controversial, counterintuitive, and downright contrarian statements that stand conventional wisdom on its ear and claim, lightheartedly, to be immutable "laws of business?" If the author is Robert Lutz, you read the book very carefully, probably several times, learn all of the "laws" by heart, and follow them to the letter every chance you get. You also find yourself laughing out loud, shaking your head in wonder, and nodding in agreement.

Revised and updated, this is a maverick’s primer on the business philosophy that revolutionized Chrysler and is now powering dramatic new product development at General Motors. In it, Lutz reexamines his iconoclastic maxims to see how they have withstood the test of time. With hard evidence, hilarious anecdotes, and his characteristic frankness, the high-flying chairman of GM North America challenges his own contention that businesses should deliberately construct a "schizophrenic" corporate culture that combines rock-solid financial controls with a highly creative, no-holds-barred product development process.

Wiley (September 26, 2003)

Subjects

Bob tailors each presentation to the needs of his audience and is not limited to the topics we have listed below. These are subjects that have proven valuable to customers in the past and are meant only to suggest his range and interests. Please ask us about any subject that interests you; we are sure that we can accommodate you.

Leadership

The U.S. Auto Industry

Videos

Reviews

An auto industry executives conference:
I can't say enough kind things about Bob Lutz. He is truly a gentlemen, a fabulous spokesman not to mention quite the sense of humor. His presentation was great and our survey results to date show our audience voting it as "excellent". The dinner and VIP lunch was quite a thrill for those who got to share a table with him.

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