Bob Lutz on the Chevy Volt—and His Future at GM
The 79-year-old, cigar-chomping car guy’s car guy on his decision to back the Chevy Volt (not to combat global warming) and his future at GM
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Around 2007, people were deluding themselves into thinking that only Toyota could master alternative propulsion technology. This was seriously starting to affect the perception—and sales—of GM. So I thought, we gotta do something that’s truly the equivalent of the moon shot, something that would leapfrog all known technology. And that was the birth of the Chevy Volt.
I’m often portrayed as the champion of big American muscle cars. But my whole life I’ve been just as enthusiastic about exciting small cars, such as the Pontiac Solstice. And at Ford, I had them develop concepts that were smaller than any other American car. Yet, inexplicably, when anybody says “Bob Lutz,” they immediately think, “Aha! Dodge Viper.”