Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business

Well worth reading for what's between the lines as well as the ideas presented. The insight into the structural problems at GM is piercing and fascinating. What I found as interesting are Lutz's blind spots. He points out absolutely correctly that customers don't care that the project manager met his schedule and product cost goals; the customers care about the car in front of them, and for Lutz, that means the car's being appealing inside and out. Much good discussion of interiors, paint, proportions, etc. But only the most passing mention of what it's like to DRIVE the cars... after all, customers do more than just admire the lovely beasts. The "unfair shake" the automotive press gave GM was based on more than anti-GM prejudice; it was based on quality, durability, erratic ergonomics, and in the cognoscenti's magazines, on the driving experience. The forward unbalanced muscle cars like the GTO that didn't much care for stopping or turning were sneered at, as were the general family cars that rode smooooooth, but didn't much care to turn, and when they did, did so with excessive lean, and the occasional lurch. As time went by, the technical naivete of the cars became a constant topic in the enthusiast press... live rear axles, when independent rear suspension was available on imports; carburetors when fuel injection was available elsewhere; too many models with drum brakes long after discs were obviously better; bias ply tires when others supplied radials on new cars. Pointing this out may have been too easy, but it wasn't unfair. And the enthusiasts who read about this stuff were often the opinion-shapers that competent marketing folks try to cater to but whom Detroit denigrated.Detroit didn't need higher gas prices to spur the development of smaller cars; remember the Corvair, Vega, Tempest, Pinto, and the Valiant? The Valiant was a long lived solid car, but the others suffered from fundamental engineering problems or shoddy construction, or both. By the time of the CAFE standard, the public had given up on GM's small cars, and so had GM. It didn't help that when GM fought hard to prevent the adoption of CAFE that GM had already fought hard and reflexively, against EVERY mandate, including requirements for safety belts, padded dashes, decent headlights,(complex story there) and had, as a result, no remaining credibility. These blunders preceded the era of high medical and retirement costs; they later added injury to injury, but the rot had set in much earlier. It's true that the yen was undervalued; but the Deutschmark was not, and the Germans have had their successes regardless.Incidentally, when GM recently delivered, from what I've seen, the mainstream press responded with a relieved "at last!". I've read very warm reviews of the Malibu, the exotic Caddy, and the Volt. So I think that his complaints about the press were just more examples of Detroit's insularity and denial.So, a fascinating book; what he gets, he gets full well, and what he doesn't, he doesn't even suspect.

Definitively a book for car fans, but surprisingly, the author managed to deliver a very comprehensive and typical Harvard-like business case. Therefore, do not let Mr. Lutz controversial political points of view get in the way (such as his simplistic argument for dismissing the relevance of global warming). Among his bias in favor of the Big Three (opposition to fuel economy targets) you will be surprised that he would have supported a gradual annual increase in federal fuel taxes instead of CAFE standards.I am not a car buff, but very interested in green cars and sustainable mobility. I decided to read this book just because I was intrigued about Bob Lutz key role in the conception, development and market lunch of the first mass production plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt. The book devotes an entire chapter to the Volt, which is very interesting but quite short (the book  Chevrolet Volt: Charging into the Future  is much more comprehensive) .Nevertheless, what really captivated me was Mr. Lutz analysis of what had happened to the U.S. competitiveness and why the country and most of its big corporations are declining to the point that he believes the days of American industrial and economic dominance are over, but "we just didn't notice it." Also very interesting is his criticism of the role played in GM by its elite business school graduates and corporate leaders whose priority is short term financial reward and quarterly earnings targets that has become a quest for greater profitability. Lutz considers them responsible for completely derailing GM from its original goal of providing superior value to its customers, and the result was a decline that ended up in the 2008 bankruptcy filing and GM government supported rebirth. He considers this is a phenomena that has been affecting not only GM but also many other US giant corporations that have lost sight of their real and long term business goals.Lutz explains that there have been an obsession among American businesses to contract brilliant MBAs with GPA of at least 3.5, so that U.S. corporations "went into the IQ accumulation business." An intellectual approach to business and a lot of analytical tools taught by high ranking American Business Schools, have resulted in extensive use of these sophisticated tools and techniques applied to finance, product research, marketing, human resources, and many other aspects of the company administrative tasks . Also, a lot of time is wasted in developing "Missions, Values, and Goals", winning strategies, scenario planning, cost control, and other non-value added activities. Unfortunately, as explained by Mr. Lutz, this approach has left aside simplicity, common sense and core functions such creativity, innovation, and product design, as key decisions are taking by the bean counters not the mechanics, the engineers and the creative people in the organization who are the ones who really have the know-how about the products. Not surprisingly, short term profit seeking and the same type of analytical MBA approach did not allow the financial geniuses that run the sophisticated financial models foresee the catastrophic 2008 financial crash. Indeed Mr. Lutz makes a very good case of why American firms are losing their competitive edge.I do recommend this book to business students. Also, for those interested in the business aspect of this book, the recently published biography of  Steve Jobs  by Walter Isaacson offers an excellent complementary reading about a company (Apple) that really cares about the product and its customers rather than being concerned about short term profits and where the role of bean counters is limited. Another good example is presented by Howard Schultz in  Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul . These two books present real examples of successful companies that care about innovation and the quality of the product or service they provide to their customers, exactly what Bob Lutz is advocating.

Adorei o livro, mas em vários momentos associei a história com a atualidade vivida na indústria que atuo. Uma frase citada no livro me marcou "baixo custo a qualquer custo". Hoje muita gente vai associar essa frase aos seus ramos de atividade. Difícil de delimitar onde o capitalismo está doentio e onde está em um nível saudável que promove progresso com um mínimo de justiça social. Vale a leitura

Moet het nog lezen.... 😉

A wonderful, blustering insight into the American Auto industry. Thanks for the inspiration, Bob!

Super Buch, tiefgehende Einblicke in Geschichte, Strategie, Evolution von GM: Zusammenhänge der jüngeren Automobilgeschichte, Highs und Lows, Konkurrenz und vieles mehr."Must have" für Leute, die in der Automobilbranche ihr Geld verdienen.

I really enjoyed Lutz's new book. It's conversational in nature, so a quick and enjoyable read, full of interesting stories about the history of GM. I am personally a big fan of the American car industry, and I appreciated this "outsider's" insider perspective on how GM was destroying itself in partnership with the UAW and the US governmental regulations. He is, as he claims to be, an "opinionated swashbuckler", but it really works well for the book, and he describes his successes and admits failures. I particularly enjoyed reading about obscure GM internal design specs that would be engineered to perfection, but would lead to less attractive cars or moronic features (ex. the voice-controlled buick, the tight spring in the ashtray). Finally, Lutz's contempt for "brand management" at Chrysler and the description of great successes like the Pontiac Aztek are hilarious. Good job Bob! A must-read!