A Few Things Ill Considered

Bob Lutz on the Colbert Report

Posted by coby on September 20, 2008
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Colbert has the CEO of GM, Bob Lutz, on his show and it is a pretty good one. The discussion is about GM’s new hybrid car, the Volt. The two most memorable moments are 1. Lutz cynically revealing he doen’t believe the whole CO2 global warming thing and that 32,000 scientists think it is sunspots(!) and 2. Colbert asking if he can recharge his Volt using the cigarette lighter in his Hummer! That was a real LOL moment : )

Watch it here:

(saw this on Treehugger)

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Comments

  1. #1 Trisha
    September 21, 2008

    You missed one other memorable moment – when he made the comment about women who don’t wear makeup at around 4:40.

    No GM cars for this non makeup wearing woman.

  2. #2 Mike
    September 22, 2008

    A sane man might wonder how such stupidity achieved such high office, but in America with shrub at the helm, all such questions are moot.

  3. #3 Al
    February 22, 2009

    GM should take Vauxhall,Opel, and Saturn and consolidate the three different divisions. they should all sell the same product under the same brand name in different markets. Opel should become the surviving moniker/brand and the cost of the different brands is dramatically slashed.

    This same principle should be applied to Chevrolet and GMC, they both sell the same product lines to similar core demographics but have different brands and dealership networks. Chevrolet and GMC should merge with Chevrolet being the surviving franchise.

    Hummer and SAAB should be grouped together and sold to am emerging automaker looking for a foothold in several markets. With a little investment both Hummer and SAAB can become showpeice brands.

    I personally would save Pontiac as its lineup does not overlap and caters to a sportier segment than any of GM’S other brands. I would keep Pontiac at least for the midterm and consider taking the brand international if GM’s fortunes improve, if the company still didnt reach profitability the brand most likely would have to be axed.

    The above suggestions would cost way less than discontinuing a brand, that would involve dealer lawsuits and hefty costs of anywhere to $2-$3 billion as seen when oldsmobile was discontinued in the late 90′s.

    Selling SAAB/Hummer

    Consolidating Saturn/Vauxhall/ Opel into just the Opel Brand

    Merging Chevrolet/GMC into Chevrolet

    7 brands will be whittled down to two brands. clearer marketing and definition can be discovered and synergies will arise. the company will be on a solid footing with a more manageable company, poised for future growth. If this plan is not followed and GM decides to close brands and severely mismanage their divestment we might not see the company survive another three years.