Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Bob Lutz, who fought passionately for good automotive design as a top executive at Ford, Chrysler and GM, came to Lawrence Tech on April 26 to deliver a lecture and visit the transportation design program that he helped get off the ground.

Before delivering the final Architecture Lecture of the academic year, Lutz signed copies of his book, “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business.”

He started his visit to LTU by touring the transportation design studios in the Art and Design Center. The College of Architecture and Design started the program in 2007 after several leaders in the automotive industry, including Lutz, said there was a need for a college program that teaches designers how to understand the engineering aspects of car design so that they can communicate effectively with engineers.

During his lecture, Lutz recounted how good automotive design practices often face resistance from engineering and finance executives who are often more concerned about streamlining the production process and cutting costs. He cited the example of auto executives who wanted to change the design of a car in order to be able to fit one more onto a railroad transport carrier.

Lutz is perhaps unique in holding top-level management positions at the Big Three and BMW. He was head of global product development under Lee Iacocca at Chrysler and an executive vice president at Ford. He held several top-level positions at GM, including vice chairman for global product development, and championed many popular models. He is now head of Lutz Communications. See more at this link.

“Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business” made the list of best-selling business books compiled by both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

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