Bob Lutz Quotations

You cannot buy a bad automobile any more from any producer. We have to do more products not because we're looking at a particular segment, but because it's a great vehicle.

There's a powerful sense of reality to our concepts, ... These are vehicles we think people would purchase and drive today.

I think either party would have seen the wisdom in bailing out the American automobile industry, because one job in ten in the United States is either directly or indirectly connected to the automobile industry. You just could not let these companies go down.

One colossal advantage of being in extra innings is that you can tell it like it is, say what you think, and largely eschew political caution.

CAFE is like trying to cure obesity by requiring clothing manufacturers to make smaller sizes.

People under 75 need more seasoning

Why did I lose? No reason, though you might like to know that I got tired, my ears started popping, the rubber came off my shoes, I got cramp, and I lost one of my contact lenses. Other than that I was in great shape.

Design can be both a manifestation of a company's design ethic and an outward communication of a company's design ethic and drive for excellence.

Forcing automakers to sell smaller cars to improve fuel economy [is like]... fighting the nation's obesity problem by forcing clothing manufacturers to sell garments in only small sizes.

In the past, (GM) produced a lot of very excellent vehicles but somehow they didn't excite anybody,

Public Schools too often fail because they are shielded from the very force that improves performance and sparks innovation in nearly every other human enterprise - competition.

What do you want in a female companion? What is the first thing that attracts you. Her ability to cook and keep house or is it the way she looks? It's not politically correct, GM hates it when I draw that analogy. But it's absolutely correct."

The electrification of the automobile is inevitable.

It applies in any business. Shoemakers should be run by shoe guys, and software firms by software guys, and supermarkets by supermarket guys. With the advice and support of their bean counters, absolutely, but with the final word going to those who live and breathe the customer experience. Passion and drive for excellence will win over the computer-like, dispassionate, analysis-driven philosophy every time.

Being able to ‘think out of the box’ presupposes you were able to think in it.

For us to go out with a half-baked system just to get a few months out, I don't think would be prudent.

GM is definitely better off with Saab brand.

Hummer is a very profitable brand for General Motors, very profitable.

Kirk Kerkorian has not been through the design dome,

I think the Cadillac should be set to classical music.

I think what happened was the manifest success of the Prius caused a rethink on everybody's part,

That was a tough one for them to lose.

Most business don't want to have a single-point backup.

We've got one less day to heal. The other thing about winning a game like last week is the threat of a letdown the next week. We have to guard against being flat. If you're flat against this team, they'll zip right by you.

We'll take them any way we can get them.

There's no denying I believe GM's business in Europe is in the process of improving quite quickly.

There's no Toyota of America engineering group, there's no Volkswagen or Audi that engineers unique cars for the United States. All we're doing is we're learning how to do what everybody else does.

Saab has really turned the corner. It is close to making money as a brand.

Right now, we're not where we ought to be (on hybrids).

Adams is a pretty good back. He adds a lot to their offense. It hurt them when he went out last week.

They've got a nice middle linebacker (Justin Thacker) and a good secondary. They run to the ball pretty well.

They're very aggressive on defense. They have a smaller lineup on defense up front and they really get to the football.

They're a little banged up, but so are we,

There's enormous good will for the glory days of American cars, when they really were American and didn't try to be Japanese or German. We all recently discovered that was a gold mine we had left fallow for a couple decades.

There's a lot of talk about their quarterback and he's a good one, but they have a lot of good skilled players who can run. They're not a one-man show. They spread the field and make you cover them.

then we would have to take a look at a phase-out. I hope we wouldn't have to do that. What we've got to do is keep the brands we've got.

The biggest things for us is to improve over last week. We made way too many mistakes and missed too many assignments. Hopefully getting a game under their belts will help us this week.

They've had to battle to win without some of their players. With those players back in the lineup they'll be a lot tougher to beat.

I'm happy about the weather, ... I'm happy about the turnout. I'm happy to see so many old friends and new faces as well.

Being able to think outside the box presupposes you were able to think in it

He's a pretty darned good quarterback. He's a good one.

The Chinese are technologically among the most capable people in the world. There is no doubt in my mind that in another five to ten years China will have a massive and capable automobile industry and will export.

All of those things are gradually coming true, so I'm cautiously optimistic about the way the business is developing in the United States.