The Lutz Effect: "Right Brain" thinking & the Post-Lutz Era at GM

[nadepalma]

SOURCE: Balitmore Sun

'Right-brain' thinking at GM
Products chief Lutz brings designers in earlier to counter 'overly rational approach'
Associated Press

January 1, 2008

Before Robert A. Lutz joined General Motors Corp. as vice chairman of product development in 2001, the left brain, by most accounts, was dominating the right when it came to making cars.

The rational left-brained engineers and planners would develop the chassis, engine and transmission, and marketing would have its say. Only then would the more creative right-brained designers be called in to fit a skin on the outside - so late in the process that the result was usually a mediocre car that turned customers away.

But recently, the right brain has been involved from the start thanks in large part to Lutz, and the results are beginning to show with the latest generation of GM cars, trucks and crossovers like the Saturn Aura and redesigned Chevy Malibu. They're getting great reviews and starting to catch on with consumers.

"It was an overly rational approach to the business," Lutz said of the old GM. "The feeling was, if we give them a nice car with lots of features, and we make it very roomy and very reliable and very functional, people will realize what a good, rational purchase this is and we will get great sales. And then it didn't happen," he said in a recent interview.

Lutz, a former Marine captain and aviator, has been in the auto business since 1963 and has held executive positions with GM, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Corp. and BMW AG. Industry analysts credit his product instincts with much of Chrysler's success in the 1990s when it cranked out creative hits with the right mix of exterior styling, performance and classy interiors.

When GM Chief Executive Officer G. Richard Wagoner Jr. recruited him away from his post as chairman and chief executive of battery maker Exide Technologies, Lutz said, he found a company hamstrung by hundreds of rules that limited design.

"The system here was really focused on stuff like that, where they'd ruin a design to get an inch more rear headroom or something," Lutz said. "The rational, functional elements were always emphasized over the aesthetic."

Although a group of executives had started holding meetings to eliminate some of the archaic rules, Lutz pushed the process along and created a huge transformation by giving designers more power early on, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"He took the handcuffs off ... and really brought them into a totally different position in the game," Cole said.

Shortly after his arrival, Lutz began influencing cars and trucks that were developed under the old system, but because it takes years for a vehicle to go from a drawing to reality, only recently has GM seen the full impact of Lutz's touch.

The Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice two-seat roadsters were hit niche products. The Saturn Aura mid-sized sedan was named North American car of the year at the 2007 Detroit auto show. The Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook crossover vehicles and the Cadillac CTS sedan, praised for their exterior designs and elegant interiors, are selling well. And out of the gate, Chevrolet dealers in November had only a seven-day supply of Malibus.

"Certainly they've strung together back-to-back products that have been very good, and then looking at what they've done on the cost side, I think they're lined up pretty well into the future," said Kevin Tynan, a senior automotive analyst with Argus Research Corp.

The challenge for GM, he said, is to carry that momentum to all of its brands, some of which have been neglected to emphasize new products. GM, he said, still must change the perception that it makes mediocre cars.

"Because of the scale of the company, you're just dealing with so much overlap. You're dealing with inattention. You just can't be all places at all times," Tynan said.

Jim Hall, director of analysis for 2953 Analytics in Birmingham, Mich., said Lutz is the "product conscience" who returned enthusiasm for cars to GM. But he wonders if GM will return to its old ways whenever the 75-year-old Lutz decides to retire.

"Product conscience lives at the top ranks of General Motors. The question is has it been institutionalized?" Hall asked. "And the answer is, it has not."

GM has people who can carry on for Lutz, but it may pick the wrong person to lead its global product development, Hall said.


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[Ambalanche]

Nothing new here, but the underlying message is that you have to balance the bean-counters with great product. I think someone like Ed Welborne would be a good candiate to succeed Maximum Bob. I just don't want a huge vaccuum when he leaves.

[1487]

the analyst quoted in the article is an idiot. How can he predict what GM will do after Lutz leaves? How does he know Lutz's influence isnt spread throughout the company when it comes to design decisions?

[ronald mcretard]

GM should follow this advice after Lutz leaves: WWBD?

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by ronald mcretard

GM should follow this advice after Lutz leaves: WWBD?

Hahaha. Excellent. If he leaves they should have stickers made up and put them on every monitor, bulletin board, or cabiner door in the RenCen to figure out exactly what Bob WOULD do!

Nice :-)

[D C]

Originally Posted by nadepalma

SOURCE: Balitmore Sun

'Right-brain' thinking at GM
Products chief Lutz brings designers in earlier to counter 'overly rational approach'
Associated Press

January 1, 2008

Before Robert A. Lutz joined General Motors Corp. as vice chairman of product development in 2001, the left brain, by most accounts, was dominating the right when it came to making cars.

The rational left-brained engineers and planners would develop the chassis, engine and transmission, and marketing would have its say. Only then would the more creative right-brained designers be called in to fit a skin on the outside - so late in the process that the result was usually a mediocre car that turned customers away.

Didn't need to read past that. This guy is clearly a moron who has no clue how the auto industry works.

[Silverado14]

Originally Posted by 1487

the analyst quoted in the article is an idiot. How can he predict what GM will do after Lutz leaves? How does he know Lutz's influence isnt spread throughout the company when it comes to design decisions?

I thought the same thing. But that said, I would guess he thinks that way due to the 30 years before Lutz. Remember too that there are a lot of people who think like Bob, but lack the fire or guts (like Lutz) to actaully follow through with things. As a life long GM fan and driver, I think God that Rick did hire Lutz and they both didn't back down the stockholders, GM bean counters and NISSAN/Renault thing. If all plays out well for GM over the next 5 to 10 years, history will look back on Rick and Bob in the same light as Sloan, Cole and Earl.

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by 1487

the analyst quoted in the article is an idiot. How can he predict what GM will do after Lutz leaves? How does he know Lutz's influence isnt spread throughout the company when it comes to design decisions?

With all due respect I believe you've made a snap judgment. The raison d'etre of the article is to question just how deep Lutz's influence has been dug in. Just because we're seeing the Enclave and CTS doesn't mean there's not some serious changes in fundamental thinking that still needs to take place at the General. Hopefully Lutz has shaken up GM's ancient and counterproductive mentality in the same way Mulally is said to have rid Ford of its corporate lock-step mentality.

[regfootball]

GM canceled the new northstar. i would say its a sign of things to come.

[jcgable]

^CAFE. I wouldn't call it an environmental shift, more than just one more V8 engine that doesn't need to be developed in the new era of $3.00 gasoline.

I could be wrong though.