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Re: GM quite simply put Saab in the too-hard basket. Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email]  (#32) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:05:47
In Reply to: GM quite simply put Saab in the too-hard basket., JohnA   [Profile/Gallery]
, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:15:34
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What's odd is that I disagree quite a bit with Swade, but that whole shebang reinforces my opinion that Lutz was (is?) a nut job. A "car guy" though he may be, I don't think he has any reasonable grasp on the industry or its customers. For all the acclaim he won by swooping through the GM corridors and doing "car guy stuff" GM won ZERO segment battles his entire time at the helm. From where I can see, all of his proclamations led to zero success.
As it specifically applies to Saab, the sickest bit Lutz's acknowledgement that invisible parts don't matter to car buyers but his total failure to acknowledge GM's repeated failures to differentiate the visible parts. Comparing a 1985 Saab 900 to a 1985 BMW 325 it's clear those cars took different roads to reach the same destination. But a 1995 Saab to a 1995 BMW? The Saab took a left in Albuquerque and ended up in Detroit. Fail.
Frankly, I have little doubt that at any given point in time Saab knew what it was doing. We got where we did because GM simultaneously micromanaged and nonmanaged Saab at alternating levels of intensity. You can't do that. GM either needed to reign Saab in and start building them in Canada and hope that VW buyers might consider them, or let Saab work itself out and return to real competition with BMW. Instead, Saab got directives that included "Please build a thoroughly Swedish car using only German parts," and "Please compete with BMW using at least 60% Pontiac content." WTF?
Either Lutz is a dirty liar and simply won't admit that everything GM made until perhaps 2007 was terrible, or he is positively mental and incapable of understanding why pedestrian Opels - especially '90s Opels - weren't good competition for actual luxury cars. Either way, having lived through this whole thing, I am baffled at where he got his reputation. As far as I can tell, he's just a nutty old guy.
posted by 12.195.130...
, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:15:34
, Sat, 24 Mar 2012 11:01:37, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:54:22, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:05:47 <-- Viewing This Message
, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:43:46
, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:37:27, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:53:08, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:20:55, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:46:51, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:41:51
, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:27:49, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:25:18
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