Bob Lutz, who recently joined General Motors as vice-chairman of product development, has been appointed chairman of GM’s North American automotive operations.
Bob Lutz, who recently joined General Motors as vice-chairman of product development, has been appointed chairman of GM’s North American automotive operations.
The former Chrysler luminary will replace Ron Zarrella, who will be rejoining Bausch & Lomb as chairman and chief executive. Zarrella was hired from the eye care company in 1994 to work on the car manufacturer’s marketing strategy. Gary Cowger, who heads manufacturing and labour relations, will become president of GM North America.
GM was not happy with Zarrella’s marketing strategy and it is believed he was blamed for falling US market share.
Zarrella has also been blamed for the demise of the Oldsmobile that will be phased out in the 2004 model year. He upset dealers when he tried to change the image of the vehicle, marketing it as an import car rather than an older man’s choice of transport.
“We’ve got the products. Now it’s a function of getting the marketing precisely right, and frankly, the Oldsmobile dealers need to step up and sell a lot more product,” he said in July last year before the Oldsmobile was phased out.
Zarrella said he regretted his poor relations with GM dealers, which was worsened after removed control of local advertising funds from dealers. "If I had anything to do differently, I would have gotten much more dealer involvement in some of the actions we took early in my tenure at GM," he said.
Zarrella said he left because he wanted to be chief executive.
"I wasn’t going to be a chief executive at GM. I’ve got a boss (chief executive Rick Wagoner) who’s younger than me, and he’s good," said Zarrella, who is 52 years old (Wagoner is 48).
"There’s a limited window to be a chief executive, and I’m in that window. I started talking to Rick, and we concluded that what I really wanted – which was to be a chief executive – I couldn’t get here.”
Lutz, who is credited for the revival of Chrysler, was hired by GM in August. He has impressed with the changes he has made to several concept cars and has emphasised the value of innovative design at the company.
