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MotoramicWhy General Motors should distance itself from Bob Lutz
Witnessing Madonna's age-defying performance at halftime of last night's Super Bowl, I was reminded of Bob Lutz, the erstwhile vice chairman of global product development for General Motors, who retired last year only to start a company called Lutz Communications, which does consulting work for GM. Like Madonna, Lutz is a flashy performer whose prime is long past. But rather than hang it up, the controversial octogenarian (or soon-to-be octogenarian, at least—his milestone birthday is next week) is again making headlines. In fact, he's writing his own.
As a guest columnist for Forbes last week, Lutz authored "Chevy Volt and the Wrong-Headed Right," a harangue largely about Fox News giving short shrift to his beloved Chevrolet Volt:
"What on Earth is wrong with the conservative media movement that it feels it's OK to spread false information, OK to damage the reputation of perhaps the finest piece of mechanical technology our country has produced since the space shuttle, OK to hurt an iconic American company that is roaring back to global pre-eminence, OK to hurt American employment in Hamtramck, Mich., as long as it damages the Obama administration's reputation?
While as a conservative Republican I may well share the goal, I deplore the means employed to attain it. The conservative cause damages itself, destroys its credibility through the expedient spreading of untruths. The public will figure it out.
The right-wing "talking heads", O'Reilly and Limbaugh at the forefront, have managed to make me embarrassed to describe myself as a conservative.
Come on, you guys. Shape up! There's plenty of legitimate fodder out there. Let's leave the "invention of facts" to the left-wing climate-change alarmists."
That's a lot to unpack.
For starters, calling the Chevy Volt "the finest piece of mechanical technology our country has produced since the space shuttle" can be excused for its hyperbole, but it's an unfortunate comparison considering that the shuttle was scuttled when the federal government stopped funding America's space program in favor of bailouts for too-big-to-fail car companies like General Motors. (As a side note, wasn't Cadillac supposed to be in charge of setting the "standard of the world?" Affixing a couple of Caddy's wreaths and crests to the grille and trunk of the Volt might have justified the partially electric car's steep $40,000 sticker price. Also, the Volt's non-UL-certified standard charging cord, which has been found to be prone to melting, certainly isn't the finest piece of technology I've come across in recent years.)
Disturbingly, Lutz reveals that one of his goals is damaging the Obama administration's reputation. Judging by laggard Volt sales, I'd say: "mission accomplished." Still, the fact that one of the highest-paid shills for GM seeks to damage the reputation of the country's commander-in-chief is an odd admission. Good thing Democratic car buyers don't read Forbes, eh Bob?
In his latest manifesto, "Car Guys and Bean Counters," Lutz offers this bit of advice for how polar bears might cope with manmade climate change: "Hello—they can swim!" He lost me at "hello."
