GM chairman Bob Lutz says he has no plans to retire

GM chairman Bob Lutz says he has no plans to retire

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By Drew Johnson

Yesterday we reported that General Motors chairman Bob Lutz was considering retirement after the automaker launches its plug-in electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, in 2010. However, Lutz has since released a statement announcing that he has no such plans to retire.
“Read my lips: I am not thinking retirement,” wrote Lutz in an e-mail to Automotive News. “The job is better than ever, and so is GM!!!!”
In an interview with the AP earlier this week, Lutz said that his health and the direction of the company will also affect his decision. “You never know about your health. You never know about the needs of the corporation,” Lutz continued. “You never know what the board wants to do, or Rick wants to transition to a younger team. All of those things are possible.”
Lutz confirmed that he told the AP that he would not retire before the launch of GM’s electric plug-in, but that the rest of the interview was out of context.
Charles Hill, AP‘s Detroit bureau chief, released this statement today about the interview: “The context of the interview reported in our Dec. 11 story about Robert Lutz clearly was retirement. The story is an accurate account of the interview.”
Lutz, 75, has been in the auto industry for over 40 years and is largely responsible for GM’s recent North American turnaround. Lutz has been with GM since 2001.
57 COMMENTS
1. jackjimturkey960 days ago
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  What will his legacy be?
  
  Reply
2. maximus960 days ago
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  …the Chevy Aveo??
  
  Reply
3. johnnycanuck960 days ago
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  …maybe GM could get Drew Carey to take over much like he did for Bob Barker on the Price is Right.
  
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4. johnnycanuck960 days ago
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  …Drew Carey already knows how to give away cars.
  
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5. Madcapp960 days ago
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  Maybe his legacy will be the Pontiac Aztek. Or maybe the 3 speed transaxle.
  
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6. global_lightning960 days ago
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  “GM’s recent North American turnaround”???
  Improvements: yes. A turnaround: no. They still have a ways to go before they match the competition in quality and desireablity. GM cars still sell primarily on price.
  
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7. rsg960 days ago
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  Best of luck Bob! Thanks for the Camaro and the, uh, ummm, hmmm…
  
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8. ambalanche960 days ago
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  Wow there are some mean-spirited people on this site.
  I think Lutz will be credited for getting GM’s design house back in order. Design sells cars and GM got away from that for a long time. He should also be credited by getting the quality back. Once you look at some of the recent GM products and see how tight their panels are, you know it’s put together well and will last. Unless you’re a sheep and just buy whatever CR tells you to.
  
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9. CTS DRIVER960 days ago
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  ^^^agreed
  
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10. jackjimturkey960 days ago
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  ‘lance: or you can look at the odometer on my Olds.
  
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11. CTS DRIVER960 days ago
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  yes rick please transition to a younger team
  
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12. cookie4me960 days ago
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  GM would have folded now without Lutz as the beanie counters would still be driving decisions. Cadillac resurged after his presence at GM and considering GM’s lead time on any project I believe they have won the uphill battle and now are pretty well positioned in design and styling. It took a while but they are there. If he gets the Volt to production, that will be his legacy and will wash away the Aztek and GTO failures. Hell, GM isn’t really doing anything different with the G8 than they did with the GTO except for the fact you will probably be able to point out a G8 in a line-up.
  
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13. hbcbob3960 days ago
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  GOD DAMNIT IT’S NOT SOON ENOUGH!
  
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14. hbcbob3960 days ago
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  ok, so maybe i was a little hasty in my comment…
  
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15. injunraiv960 days ago
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  I think Lutz is the Al Gore of GM right now. He’s done some, been blamed for some. Personally, I think what is coming down the pipe under his watch is really something. Who is really to be credited? Well, if the guy at the top gets the blame…
  
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16. rsg960 days ago
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  The amount of hype that came with his arrival and what actually came along as new products was overblown. He basically gave us the Solstice/ Sky, imported Holdens and sold them as Pontiacs, and the new Camaro. The first two aren’t bad but don’t blow me away. The Camaros the only one that’s likely to be the far and away leader in it’s segment. I was hoping for more products like that. The Epsilon platform (Malibu) has been around since ’02 so how much he has to do with the Malibu’s success is debatable. I like the Malibu but it’s very overhyped at this point because it’s a competitive Chevy sedan. The automative press is lukewarm on the Aura and G6 but the Chevy is a out of the park home run, even though they’re all the same underneath. Anyone disagree?
  
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17. CTS DRIVER960 days ago
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  ^cts^
  
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18. F451960 days ago
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  Hallelujah! Lutz’s time came and went eons ago, and he was afraid, and too self-indulgent to admit it. What pisses me off most regarding Lutz is that he has always thought of himself as a one-man show…bull****.
  
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19. Bryce960 days ago
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  According to Automotive News:
  ““Read my lips: I am not thinking retirement,” wrote Lutz in an e-mail to Automotive News this afternoon. “The job is better than ever, and so is GM!!!!”
  
  Lutz confirmed that he told AP that he would not retire before GM launches its plug-in electric car. Today, he told Automotive News that he did not mean to imply that he would retire in 2010.”
  
  Reply
20. RSPINAJR960 days ago
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  LP640 is still allowed to comment on this site? He changed his name from homeboy, still comments like an idiot and has NO concept of what the industry is all about He has got to the most ignorant person to ever type a word.
  
  Someone please get this little boy off this site!
  
  Reply
21. rsg960 days ago
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  GM is better than ever? I see. I would’ve thought maybe the ’50s when they sold like 1 out of every 2 cars in the friggin’ world, but what do I know. Anyway, I guess we know from this AP article what car he’d like to be remembered for. Hopefully they do it right, in that case..
  
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22. autonut960 days ago
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  The UAW should start strike! The guy is Moses contemporary, he costs millions to the company and does what? Majority of cars GM plans to sell is coming either from Europe or Australia or Asia and his contribution is only to the parties and promo pictures. Thanks god I am not shareholder any longer, ’cause this multi million waste use to drive me bonkers. Now the guys who do own shares should be really pissed off. He is like vampire who sucks $$$ out of the companies. Car guy my ass!
  
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23. paging_the_real_BARTMACK960 days ago
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  Heck…he should just stay on … imagine what cool cars GM could produce if he was like 90?
  
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24. Commodore960 days ago
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  Update: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl…/1178&refsect= (registration required, but here is a quote:)
  
  “Read my lips: I am not thinking retirement,” wrote Lutz in an e-mail to Automotive News this afternoon. “The job is better than ever, and so is GM!!!!”
  
  Reply
25. Commodore960 days ago
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  LP640 – well now we obviously know you are a minority that is racist towards white people.
  
  consider NOT calling people rednecks?
  
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26. Madcapp960 days ago
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  I wonder when Chairman Castro is going to retire.
  
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27. N_yo_face960 days ago
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  LP640 is an old fashioned biggot. I think groups like al Qaeda are hiring emotional basket cases like you for one way missions.
  
  Care to explain the root of your disgust for this other human being? So much so that you repeatedly call for his death? You are repulsive.
  
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28. 441Zuke960 days ago
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  rsg you have to look at the total amount of people buying cars compared to today. i think they lead by percentage but globally they sell more totatl cars now
  
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29. SS4LIFE960 days ago
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  Well Lutz had his failures and had his successes with GM. Yeah the Aztec and GTO didn’t work out too well. Neither did the SSR but I don’t know if that was the work of Lutz as well. I think though that he definitely revived Pontiac with bringing the Solstice from concept to production and bringing the Kappa’s stateside. But Lutz had a large role in bringing Viper to production when he was back at Chrysler, so he’s had his accomplishments. Also I hope he still sticks around Michigan. He has a great car collection and I’ve seen him flying his Mig (19 or 21?) around. He keeps it at Willow Run airport I think.
  
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30. Commodore960 days ago
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  Aztec and things of that sort are all ‘old GM’ stuff. He did not have the influence he does now back when those products were developed. Fortunately, GM has recently switched from a car company run by its accountants to one that is run by car guys like Lutz. That is why we see such good new product coming out of GM. Toyoda on the other hand has almost traded places with GM – now Toyoda is the one obsessed with the numbers and being #1 in sales and making the most money and cutting costs, while GM has moved on to making cars people wanna buy…not making cars according to the numbers. Example of this is the Volt, which will probably lose GM money but boost GM’s reputation.
  
  And God damn, LP640 is a racist bitch.
  
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31. jackjimturkey960 days ago
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  SS4Life: I thought the SSR delivered the goods,but that price wasn’t gonna work. Kind of why the 300zx, RX7 and Supra were killed
  
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32. Get Real959 days ago
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  Lutz is a man with big talk but very little action.
  
  He $&*@?! up Chrysler with the LH cars, then went to GM to #$%*$ them up.
  
  He is another do-little-over-paid suit.
  
  Horror is that he will receive vast $$$ for the little work he did and mole-hill sized projects he left behind.
  
  Harley Earl was a man. Lutz is a pretty boy.
  
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33. CA36GTP959 days ago
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  Commodore, LP640 is a terrific demonstration of the modern British lower class.
  
  Reply
34. autonut959 days ago
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  I don’t think Lutz had failures or successes at GM, and I believe at Chrysler as well. He is marketing guy. The job of marketing is to define the market and define product corresponding to the market. Marketing should also own the product through life cycle.
  I don’t believe he ever done anything like that at any company. In olden days there was Chevy Caprice/Impala. This marquee survived 40-50 years of development. What Lutz have done to improvement of it? What about Grand Prix or LeSabre or DeVille? All marquees are lost and renamed into TLA like some computer models. The confusion is that when Europeans had their numbering schemas there was rime an reason for it, not with Lutz. So if brands were replaced and there is no sharp vision for market segment what he has been doing? He cant design, since he is not an engineer or designer. The old man pontificates better then Harvard MBA Wagoner, but that’s about it. He is as useful as tits on a bull.
  
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35. jackjimturkey959 days ago
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  Get Real: harley earl should’ve never been allowed to retire
  
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36. SS4LIFE959 days ago
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  yeah JJT I concur. It was overpriced. But I know GM was having some difucutly with the folding hard top during the testing stages. It was experiencing some leakage in the beginning. I also think it was a little costly so some of those costs might have been passed on to the consumer. But yeah good powertrain, but overpriced.
  
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37. F451959 days ago
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  Damn if senility hasn’t set in on Lutz’s brain. Retiring…nope…not retiring…nope…
  
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38. LP640959 days ago
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  i couldnt care less if he retired, death however would be the ideal
  
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39. CA36GTP959 days ago
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  Ever notice how LLN can’t post a single article lately without having to fix the information later?
  
  Last I checked, I wasn’t on Motortrend.com
  
  Reply
40. 441Zuke959 days ago
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  i will be the first perspn to ever do this : defend the Pontiac aztek.
  yes it is horrifically styled. the concept car diden’t lok that bad but the aztek was the first crossover to hit the market so it in some way made a big impact. if it weren’t so ugly it would have been a hit
  
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41. autonut959 days ago
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  Fcuking leech
  
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42. jackjimturkey959 days ago
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  Bryce: You ought to be running leftlane
  
  Zuke: I agree. The aztek was horrible looking, but for certain Gen-Y types, that didn’t matter. Not enough to keep it around, mind you.
  
  I knew a dealer who had an Aztek on his lot for 15 months. That’s murder
  
  Reply
43. CA36GTP959 days ago
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  The Aztek was extremely good at its primary purpose: utility.
  
  If it didn’t look like ass and had a crap engine, it would’ve been successful.
  
  Just look at the Lambdas.
  
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44. autonut959 days ago
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  Aztek epitomized what is/was wrong with GM. If you recall it started as transplant from Opel’s minivan which was actually very decent looking as Pontiac rendition. Well it did not sell as well as Chryslers’ twins because it was European and much smaller (remember Europe is a smallish continent). Some brainiyak at GM decided it was because original minivan was ugly and made it better. Well, we have the ugliest vehicle on the planet.
  
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45. SS4LIFE959 days ago
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  Yeah funny we’re talking about the Aztec. It gets burned a lot for it’s looks. I myself am not a fan of its looks but my parents did buy my uncle’s after he had it for like 2 or 3 years. “Why did they buy an Aztec? It’s soo ugly!” was what everyone was saying. Actually like CA36GTP mentioned its primary purpose being utility; he is correct. My dad who drives it primarily loves it. It hauls the family around, can fully load the back if taking stuff back and forth. Makes a great vehicle to take the family to Chicago or Indianapolis for a weekend (from Detroit), and can pull our 16ft Master Craft. Although the 3.4L SFI V6 drinks the gas. Other than that it gets (slightly) better gas mileage compared to other SUV’s when doing the same kind of stuff in so it was definitely a smart alternative.
  
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46. johnnycanuck959 days ago
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  Let’s face it, some guys just can’t retire. They wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. And if there’s no one lurking in the wings with the hook, why would they? GM’s hardly out of the woods yet, but they’re a hell of lot better off right now than Ford or Chrysler with several interesting projects coming down the pipe. Who knows, it might be worth keeping the old guy around for awhile.
  
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47. Bryce959 days ago
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  jackjimturkey, thank you for the support. I’ll be running the country one day. How’s the Enclave?
  
  The Aztek always reminds me of Jessica Alba. That’s good enough for me.
  
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48. autonut959 days ago
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  Johnny, some guys cant retire but this is not the case. GM pays millions for services of the guy who has no job function. He is the second CEO. What sane company needs 2 heads (no pun intended). If he would not retire and would not draw salary, I would applaud his motives, but right now it looks like greed beyond the grave. Furthermore during his tenure GM market share in native country/continent did not increase. There is success in China and Europe, but he has nothing to do with it.
  
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49. Commodore959 days ago
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  …I already “reported” this. lol
  I guess better late than never.
  
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50. johnnycanuck959 days ago
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  Ok autonut, I see your point, but let’s get right down to brass tacks: how many ex wives does he pay alimony to?
  
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51. Commodore959 days ago
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  Global lightning – no, GM cars don’t sell on price. That is Hyundai.
  
  GM’s turnaround is way underway and MANY improvements have been made. GM has not turned itself around 180, but it is about at 150 or so, so its fair to say that Lutz turned GM around. Lutz has made mistakes, but overall he has done more good than bad.
  
  Lastly, if the domestic haters are jumping on the Aztec, then I feel good. I mean, if that is all that they have (oh, and the Cimarron from 20 years ago) then clearly GM has no problems now. Of course, one idiot said that the Aztec “is/was why GM sucks” but of course he failed to make the connection to why GM sucks today. Because they made a bad car in the past? I don’t understand why I can admit that there are several import cars that are really good but they cannot admit that ANY domestics are good.
  
  Reply
52. N_yo_face959 days ago
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  Get Real, beleive it or not the LH cars were a major improvement over what they were selling previously and really broke the styling mold for Chrysler. That was just before Damler raped Chrysler and left her for dead.
  
  F451, the reporters got the story wrong (as usual) not Lutz.
  
  LP640 deserves no further comment
  
  I’m guessing by most of comments that the average age on here 10-13 years old
  
  Reply
53. Get Real958 days ago
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  Obviously you did not own an LH car, I did.
  
  Want to see my repair list ????????????
  
  FYI – The garbage electronic tranny they made in the late 80′s was also put into the LH cars.
  
  Reply
54. F451958 days ago
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  @N_yo_face, I am no supporter of Lutz as he takes far too much credit for what he does not accomplish; badmouths his own industry after saying it fails to do the things he supposed thought of first; is ineffective at the position has and the pay he is given. Really now, someone who gets paid that much, and who knows what the perks beyond his pay (believe me they are substantial), is so ineffective at his position level? He’s a “glory boy,” and we all know or have met his kind in college, at work, in life; they always think they are on top, when in reality they are not. A dying relic of a self-supposed icon who has lived the good life at everyone else’s expense. Simply fire everyone else at GM and let Bobby boy run it singlehandedly and with a personnel of one: Bobby.
  
  Reply
55. jackjimturkey958 days ago
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  Bryce: Still don’t have the Enclave: Buick.com says the one I want is at several dealers, then I call the dealer and it’s either A) Sold or B) an 8-seat model. I’ll just wait until the Buick dealer in the next exurb over has a Blue-Gold one, or that cool red color. I’ve decided I can live with that. The longer it takes me, the less it costs.
  
  I like some Jessica Alba, but right now, my sexception is Alicia Keys.
  
  Get Real: Are you trying to defend the Dodge Dynasty?
  
  Reply
56. Get Real958 days ago
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  Hey, I rented a Dynasty once, took it to New Orleans. It did 100 mph easy on the highway. I kind of liked the car….except for that expensive transmission thing.
  
  Reply
57. N_yo_face957 days ago
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  F451, my comments were to LP690 reagarding his murderous expressions.
  
  I have no particular reason to defend Lutz other than things are apparently doing better at GM under his watch. You rolled out a list of baseless accusations against the guy on subjets you could only have heard about by second or thirdhand accounts. You talk about his pay and perks (“believe me they are substantial”) as if you work in the accounting department at GM and see it firsthand. There is no doubt that he gets compensated ‘substantially’ compared to you or me but that is no reason to call for a man’s death, joking or not. Even though I’m not 100% sure what a “dying relic of a self-supposed icon” is, it seems to me that he is currently pulling his weight.
  
  Reply
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GM chairman Bob Lutz says he has no plans to retire

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