It truly is the end of an era. Bob Lutz, the cocksure maverick who led a product renaissance at both General Motors and Chrysler, will retire effective May 1. When Lutz goes, the industry will lose one of its best car guys and a strong personality known as much for his gravelly pronouncements at auto shows as he was for the automobiles he helped create. GM will surely miss his direction in the company’s new-car works. When Lutz arrived in September 2001, GM was putting out bland cars and cutting corners on all but its most-profitable pickup trucks and SUVs. Designers also took a back seat when the company set up to develop a new model. The company would engineer the underpinnings of a car, putting all considerations from engineering, manufacturing and marketing first. Then designers would wrap a steel body around it. The results were typically rote and boxy. When GM tried to step out with design, it ended up with cars like the famously garish Pontiac Aztek SUV. Lutz brought design to the forefront. The company started its new cars with the styling concept first and then started to make changes for fuel economy, cabin space or aerodynamics or any other practical attribute.

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