The well-respected, sometimes outspoken 81-year-old former automotive executive still speaks his mind about “bean counters” and anything else someone may ask him about the U.S. auto industry.
Former General Motors Co. vice chairman Bob Lutz speaks April 18, 2013 at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2013 World Congress at Detroit's Cobo Center.DETROIT- Bob Lutz is older, but still his same old self.
The well-respected, sometimes outspoken 81-year-old former automotive executive continues to speak his mind about “bean counters” and anything else about the U.S. auto industry.
The most recent example of the former General Motors vice chairman voicing his views of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the U.S. automotive industry came Thursday at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2013 World Congress in Detroit.
Lutz spoke about everything from what he would do if he were “king of the automotive industry” for a week, which he said was a suggested topic of discussion from event organizers, to the electrification of sports cars and the government’s “exaggerated” fuel economy regulations.
“As I’ve said for years, reducing fuel consumption by forcing automakers to sell smaller, and more frugal vehicles, is like fighting the nation’s obesity epidemic by forcing clothing manufacturers to only sell In small sizes,” he said during the presentation.
Lutz, who spoke for about 50 minutes with questions from the audience, is somewhat of a dying breed in the U.S. automotive industry. As detailed in numerous books, including his own“Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business,” Lutz has his own way of doing things – from his early days with BMW to completing the Detroit automaker trifecta and heading his own consulting firm.
SAE officials may have been joking when they mentioned the topic of “automotive king,” but there’s really no doubt that Lutz has reigned over the auto industry for decades.
Here’s a look at some of Lutz’s comments from the event during the final day of the SAE 2013 World Congress:
On if he could be king of the U.S. auto industry for a week:
“I’d have to be emperor and not king because there’s so much to be done. You couldn’t get it done with the mere title of king and you couldn’t get it done within a week. It would take at least a year.”
On electrification of sports cars:
Lutz said for sports cars and full-size pickups to actually meet the CAFE standards by 2025, they’re most likely going to have to be partially electrified
“They will just have to adopt, most likely, partial electrification to achieve the numbers,” he said.
Cost of technology, long recharge times and limited range are the three things currently holding back the electric vehicle industry, according to Lutz.
On CAFE standards instead of increasing taxes on gasoline:
“Common sense simply dictates, always has, that if you want somebody to use less of a given commodity, you raise the price of that commodity. I mean, how hard is that for anyone to grasp?
“So with all of this complicated CAFE and CO2 legislation, we’re attacking the problem from the wrong end of the pump.”
On the odds of politicians actually instituting a gradual national gas tax increase:
“Only as emperor could one do that because an emperor doesn’t have to run for re-election. Politicians all do.
“Every politician in the United States knows that talking about a fuel tax is like touching the third rail in a subway.”
More on new CAFE and CO2 regulations:
“The automobile industry will have to soldier on, making the best of a bad situation and facing these new rules head on.”
On being an engineer in today’s auto industry:
“This is a brilliant time to be an automotive engineer – either on the OEM or the supplier side – because there are infinite challenges out there,” he said. “And infinite challenges always mean infinite opportunities.”
On diverse solutions and tomorrow’s engineers:
Lutz said “the solutions are many” to achieve the government’s regulations and the opportunities for tomorrow’s engineers are endless.
“Tomorrow’s engineers will have to be even smarter, even better, even more hands on. They will have to be not only mechanical engineers, but will need a grasp of electrical engineering, battery technology, which means electrical chemical engineering.”
He also added the “importance of engineers has never been greater” in the U.S. auto industry.
On diesel vehicles in the U.S.:
While diesel vehicles are popular in Europe -- “the land of diesel” -- and other markets, Lutz said they will not be successful in the U.S. right now.
“The American public by in large has figured it out. Diesels, from a cost of ownership standpoint in the United States with present technology and present emissions, diesel do not make economic sense.”
He said United States’ emission regulations are much stricter than Europe’s and companies have to spend thousands to retrofit diesel engines for the U.S., which they then pass down to consumers.
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