GM's Lutz Details Automaker's 2010 To-Do List

GM's Lutz Details Automaker's 2010 To-Do List

General Motors' Bob Lutz, in an editorial on AutoObserver's sister site, Edmunds' Inside Line, lays out the automaker's 2010 to-do list.

Top to bottom of the list is a focus on product.

"GM builds cars and trucks and crossovers. That is what we do," writes Lutz. "In 2009, we were given an opportunity to continue doing so, and we must not squander that opportunity.

"Therefore," adds Lutz, "we are resolved, if you will, not to lose sight of the fact that if we don't build the best cars, trucks and crossovers on the planet, that opportunity will go for naught."
 

GM's next-most important to-do item is to change minds, Lutz says.

"We face an enormous reputational deficit, one that took decades to develop and one that, unfortunately, we earned. And it's going to take a long time to turn it around, but we certainly can do it," Lutz insists. That will be accomplished by stepping up marketing and communications and by improving relationships with customers.

Be viligant about quality and technology is also high on Lutz's list. "We cannot overlook one detail that would adversely affect quality, reliability and durability. One step up and two steps back gets us nowhere."

Design will remain king. "Suffice it to say that, like quality, we cannot afford to let our guard down on great design," Lutz writes.

"That's the beginning of a pretty good to-do list," Lutz concludes. "There's a lot more. Continue to pursue leadership in advanced technology and the electrification of the automobile, get the Chevy Volt on the road, pay back the loans on or ahead of schedule."

Photo by GM

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.