This is a long one. 3000 words. Settle in.
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I got a Kindle for Christmas.
The first book I bought was one that was difficult to get in bookshops here in Australia: Bob Lutz’s Car Guys and Beancounters. Bob Lutz, for those who are unfamiliar, was one of GM’s Vice Presidents during much of the time when they owned Saab Automobile. He was responsible for lifting the overall quality in both manufacturing and design and if you consider GM to have had any sort of renaissance over the last 10 years, Mr Lutz is the man you can thank.
Lutz is a controversial figure, which is why GM loved to wheel him out at any big announcements. He was always good for a quote, so the press loved him, too.
I’ve got mixed feelings about Bob Lutz. On the one hand, there’s a lot that he says that makes sense. The opening of this book contrasts his thoughts on quality with those of some of Ford’s beancounters when he was working there in the late 1970’s. Ford had huge problems at the time with camshafts in their four cylinder engines, with many of them failing just after vehicles had passed their 12,000 mile warranty. Lutz investigated, approved the marginal costs needed to make more durable camshafts and was subsequently lambasted by the beancounters, who enjoyed booking profits on the service work associated with the failures. They estimated the improvement in the camshaft quality cost Ford roughly $50million. To the beancounters’ eyes, these customers were a captive market, with no choice other than to replace the failed camshafts (and associated damage from failures). Lutz correctly argued that the customers’ choice would be made when it came time to replace the vehicle, and the choice wouldn’t be another Ford.
That’s the good Bob Lutz. Make the product better for the benefit of both the company and the customer.
The Bob Lutz I don’t like is the one who cancelled nearly all of Saab’s proposed model range in the few years after GM took 100% ownership of Saab. My understanding is that the Saab 9-3, for example, had 5 different body styles in the works when it was being developed. Saab eventually got just 3 of these to market, but even then the SportCombi took three years to arrive (after the sedan). The planned small crossover version was cancelled as it was thought no-one would like the idea of a smaller SUV ……… right.
This article is going to show you more of the bad Lutz. It’s not necessarily intended that way. My intention was simply to share the quotes referring to Saab that appear in his book. As it happens, those quotes don’t paint him in a good light if you’re a Saab fan.
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Quote 1
….General Motors embarked on a series of initiatives to overcome both the perception and reality of the growing import threat. Some of these taxed the comprehension of rational minds at the time, such as the creation of Saturn, an all-new auto company, making a new kind of car with a new and more productive relationship with the UAW. Another was a mind-boggilingly bold move into China with, of all brands, Buick. There was a series of alliances with various Japanese brands and – after GM was jilted in its quest for Jaguar – the purchase of the decidedly weird Swedish brand Saab. As we shall see, many of these initiatives were ill-advised and ultimately failed. Some were successful, but not enough.
OK, that’s not so bad, I guess. Some might even take a description of Saab being “weird” as a compliment. I don’t think Bob meant it that way, though.