Why Elon Musk Needs Bob Lutz

Elon Musk is in trouble.

That’s not to take anything away from the remarkable achievements

the 37 year old former founder of Pay Pal and current CEO of electric
vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors has accomplished. More specifically,
creating a unique niche in the annals of automotive history as a
pioneer in manufacturing electric vehicles.

But even with the accolades that have come with Musk’s triumphs,
including being named Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year in
2007, Elon has tripped over an increasingly number of gaffes in his
time after snatching the CEO post of Tesla away from fellow co-founder
Martin Eberhard. . From his Detroit office discovering their termination
via a blog post, to the very public firing of former employee Peng Zhou
for leaking Tesla’s depleting cash resources, Elon’s public perception is
less maverick and more mess.

Nothing typifies his conversion from maven to maladroit more so than

the very private-turned public controversies surrounding Musk’s
decision to attempt catching employees who leaked corporate secrets
by sending each employee a slightly altered version of a memo, which
Musk expected would get sent to the media. The plan backfired when
general counsel Craig Harding forwarded his own personalized copy of
memo along with a new, stricter nondisclosure agreement mentioned
in the memo to other employees, nullifying the entrapment plan and
further creating a divide between executive/employee relations.

But even with all of the internal strife Musk is suffering, none compares
to the external criticism he faces almost daily in the circles of
automotive media. This summer, quite possibly the most revered
automotive television show in the world, Top Gear, thrashed the Tesla
Roadster for not living up to its battery life claims. After a back-and-
forth between Tesla and Top Gear host and show luminary Jeremy
Clarkson, it was deemed on public forums and blogs that Top Gear’s
assessment of the Tesla as nothing more than a rich man’s toy was
indeed correct.

Of course this doesn’t bode well for Tesla’s product plans as the
Roadster was to be the high priced hors d'œuvre to a more palatable
and affordable 4 doorsedan main course.

But the real question is whether the cooks in the kitchen have enough
food to even make a meal. In accusations yet to be substantiated but
suspiciously becoming more accurate, Tesla had begun taking deposits
for their unseen by the public White Star sedan with zero promises of
delivery.

Like Tucker’s accessory program a half century ago, Elon Musk’s

decision to take cash from prospective owners in exchange for nothing
more than a single image of a preproduction model has elicited
criticism across the internet through blogs and mainstream media.

For a man who could be celebrated as the next Edison, he’s quickly
turning into Preston Tucker.

Enter Bob Lutz.

The mere mention of a man who’s name is forever immortalized in the

minds of greenies as the silver haired corporate blowhard who called
global warming a “crock of shit” certainly conjures negative images,
but I’ve got news for you: he can save Tesla’s ass and I’m willing to bet
Elon Musk knows it.

If evaluating Robert Lutz on the last years of his career as Vice

Chairman of Product Development at General Motors, you’d be
disappointed with the exception of one bold asterisk. For every Chevy
Malibu, Pontiac Solstice, bumble bee yellow Chevy Camaro and Buick
Enclave that received polite applause from automotive media and a
few consumers, it‘s his final opus that serves to stand out and
captivate the imaginations of Americans. Yes, the Chevy Volt could be
the car that revolutionizes the electric vehicle.

So how does a guy who’s best known to bring both the Ford Explorer as
well as the Dodge Viper to production bring into being the antithesis of
both vehicles? Well first and foremost experience. Prior to Lutz’s
appointment by GM CEO Rick Wagoner, Lutz was CEO of battery
supplier Exide where he walked into a huge mess of corporate
inefficiency. Two years later, Exide was still seeing red, but Bob Lutz
cleaned up the company to the best of his ability.

All of this on top of the fact that he was learning at Exide about their
product – a former opponent of electric vehicles, Bob Lutz had
entertained the thought of Exide building one independent of the Big 3
– much like our friend Mr. Musk has accomplished. Unfortunately the
level of investment necessary to complete the task never came to
fruition. Had he the capital, Lutz may have produced a precursor to the
Tesla.

On a quick side note before we go any further. The crock of shit

comment forever appended to Lutz’s legacy was taken out of context.
For the record, his beliefs regarding global warming are similar to many
astrophysicists that hypothesize that solar radiation could play a large
role in today's global warming. He’s gone on record to say that
although reckless and almost ignorant on the impact of his quote, it’s
almost immaterial to consider his statements as concrete because of
all the things Bob Lutz is, he is not an astrophysicist and he knows this.

Back to the post.

In addition to his experience at Exide, Lutz has mastered design as well

as consumer psychology. Harkening back to his initial collegiate thesis
on “The Influence of Design on Product Image.”Lutz gets it, plain and
simple – it doesn’t matter how many upgrades you make to a car, if the
consumer can’t see it, they’re almost rendered irrelevant. Say what
you will about the impractical nature of the Dodge Viper, it can still
stand the test of time one decade later as a gorgeous car and a
statement to power.

But his flair for design aside, Lutz has international experience to grow
Tesla in other markets outside of the United States. Born in Zurich,
attending private schools in Switzerland, and speaking a number of
foreign languages. Having served as President of GM’s Euro division, he
has the experience and networking skills to maneuver Tesla across the
continent picking up key supplier and distributor relationships along
the way. May I remind you that if it wasn’t for the price of gas and the
economic thrashing we’ve all taken, the Pontiac G8 would be hailed as
a world beater. Laugh all you want, go test drive a GXP and get back to
me.

Finally, there’s the X factor. Lutz has never made CEO amongst the Big
3. Working for the blue oval, Bob just didn’t have the right four letter
last name to take over the post. Besides, he spooked his employer so
badly, they relegated him to the truck division which by the way,
became I don’t know, Ford’s most important profit center for decades.

At Chrysler, it was a foregone conclusion Lee Iacocca would

recommend Lutz to replace him as CEO, however in a final “fuck you”,
Iacocca recommended the other Robert - Robert “Merger of Equals”
Eaton over Lutz as the man to take over Chrysler.

Tesla is by no means Chrysler, Ford or even the pre-chique BMW that

Lutz touched in his previous lives, but it’s potential to become
something special, while being small enough for Lutz to manage
shouldn’t be dismissed.

It’s never easy to admit you’ve failed. No one is saying Elon Musk is a
failure but he’s treading on thin ice. Tesla captured the imagination of
mainstream media by manufacturing a car thought impossible to build
before the Big 3 could even dream up blueprints to compete and as
such, Tesla should be commended for the achievements they’ve made
in their short time in business. But the world is different today than it
was when Tesla launched. It would be difficult to prove the rumor mill
inaccurate: they need cash. But more than cash, they need credibility.

Lutz on the other hand spent 4 years swimming upstream in Downtown

Detroit only to announce his retirement in an echo chamber. The guy
deserved a better going away party than the one he got – nonexistent.
With that said, I don’t think this is how he wants his legacy to conclude.
Breathing new life into Tesla Motorcars will effectively breathe new life
into Bob Lutz. The two could form a symbiotic relationship that if
managed the right way, could elicit a strong alternative choice in the
minds of mainstream automotive shoppers.

All it takes is a simple phone call. The lines are open Mr. Musk and now
it’s your call.