Robert Lutz
Robert A. "Bob" Lutz (born February 12, 1932, in Zurich, Switzerland) is the Vice-Chairman of General Motors Corporation, responsible for product development at the world's largest automaker.
He was previously an executive at Exide Corporation, Chrysler Corporation (now DaimlerChrysler), where he oversaw the development of the Dodge Viper and Plymouth Prowler automobiles, and Ford Motor Company, where he led the creation of the short-lived Merkur brand.
One of his earliest jobs in the auto industry was at BMW, and he takes some credit in the development of the BMW 2002.
Before assuming his present post at GM, he was an investor in the Cunningham C7 project, which endeavored to develop an American-built exotic autombile, or "supercar".
While at General Motors, Lutz championed the exporting of the Holden Monaro to the United States as the Pontiac GTO. Other cars such as the Cadillac Sixteen show car, Pontiac G6 and Pontiac Solstice roadster are said to be Lutz initiatives.
A former aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps, Lutz authored the management and leadership book, Guts, which the dust jacket describes as "a maverick's primer on the business philosophy that revolutionized Chrysler". He is also known as a collector of aircraft and classic automobiles.
Lutz also served as:
- US Marine aviator 1954 - 1959
- General Motors
- BMW
- Chairman of Ford of Europe
- Executive Vice President of all Ford international operations
- Member Ford Board of Directors
- CEO of Exide from 1998 to ????
- Member of the Advisory Board of the Haas School, University of California at Berkeley
To be merged:
There is also an American tennis player named Bob Lutz
Robert "Bob" A. Lutz, born February 12 1932, in Zürich, Switzerland, is the head of General Motors in Europe.
He became chairman of GM North America on November 13, 2001. Before joining GM he was chairman and chief executive officer of Exide Technologies. Before joining Exide he worked at Chrysler Corporation from 1986 to 1998, where he reached the position of vice chairman. In 1998 he wrote the book Guts: The Seven Laws of Business That Made Chrysler the World's Hottest Car Company about his experiences there. Before Chrystler he worked 12 years at Ford Motor Company, becoming executive vice president of truck operations. Lutz also sat as chairman of Ford of Europe and as executive vice president of Ford's international operations.
His career in the automobile industry started in 1963 at GM, where he held a variety of senior positions in Europe until 1970. 1970-1973 he served as executive vice president of sales at BMW in Munich. He holds a bachelor's degree in production science from University of California-Berkeley, where he graduated from in 1961. In 1962 he also obtained a master's degree in business administration. During 1954 to 1965 he served as a jet-attack aviator in the United States Marine Corps.
Lutz also maintains a weblog called Fastlane that is hosted at GM Blogs.