As loyal blog readers know, Rob, Jen and I went to dinner with Bob Lutz last Wednesday. To be honest, I was a little nervous—the man is a titan. While we were waiting in the bar, Rob pretty much summed up my feelings when he said, "Seriously, who’s bigger? Enzo Ferrari is dead." But titan or not, Bob was easy to talk to. Obviously, he’s stoked about the Chevy Volt, and one of the first questions I asked him was about whether near-silent electric cars posed dangers to the blind. It was pretty clear he thought that idea was ridiculous. Bob said modern vehicles are so quiet that people generally know a car is coming  because they hear "air and tire noise," and not because they hear the rumble of the engine. He added that once perfectly clean vehicles are common, the industry will probably start taking heat for all the dead bugs which wind up on their windshields. Yup, the rumors are true—Bob Lutz is a funny guy. However, he did seem resigned to the idea that we’d soon be seeing Federally-mandated vehicle sound minimums, because there is "one blind congressman."

Continue reading "Bob Lutz Calls It Like He Sees It" »

Rob, John and I are each posting a blog on our recent sit-down with Maximum Bob in an effort to address as many as possible of the questions y’all had for the Czar. I was curious about what Bob thought of GM enthusiast culture—is the General interested in harnessing its old-school brand loyalists, the classic and muscle-car fans, the way for instance Mopar has done so successfully? Bob said that Chevy enthusiasts don’t need any coaxing to remain loyal, and that the company can’t remain preoccupied with the past. So if you’re into old-school Bow-Tie, Bob Lutz is probably assuming that your eventual repeat-customer status is a foregone conclusion. Yikes, maybe he hasn’t seen how many of the Camaro and GTO guys are buying new Camries and Kias for their daily beaters?

Speaking of enthusiasts, a lot you were asking about the disappearance of the stick shift from modern cars. Read more…

Continue reading "Bob Lutz On Enthusiast Culture, Stick Shifts, and More" »

We had a great time with Bob Lutz and his posse last night. The dinner was supposed to last an hour and a half, but somehow with all the great wine and food it ran over three hours. And Bob talked pretty much the whole time. Let’s get the Volt stuff out of the way first. Yes, GM is still on track for November 2010. They are expecting to build and sell 10,000 in 2011 and 60,000 in 2012. From there it’s anyone’s guess. In terms of price they are aiming to bring the Volt in under $40k, but are hoping that tax credits will make it easier for people to afford.

There was a lot of talk about gas prices. Bob actually seems pretty content with the current high gas prices–he just thinks they ramped up a bit quickly. Bob claims to have lobbied the folks in DC for gas taxes starting in the 70s, but says that politicians had always balked at the idea. So US auto manufacturers were pretty much stuck selling gas-guzzling SUVs. Or something like that. But given GM’s new direction, Bob said that cheap gas would actually be a bad thing for them at this point. With the new CAFE standards kicking in, a return to cheap gas would put them "at war" with their customers by forcing GM to produce small, efficient cars that consumers wouldn’t want. GM is fully committed to the Volt and is intent on "taking the vehicle out of the environmental debate." Continue reading…

Continue reading "Dinner with Bob" »