Dear Bob Lutz,

Mid 80's at Ford would have been Alex Trapman (Sp?) he had some cool office posters of the top 10 selling brands by decade. It was interesting to see how many top sellers where not only dropped from the top 10, but out of business!!!

Jac N. OMG could I tell you stories about that guy!! What a piece of work he was.

The only thing you can be sure of in the Auto industry is that it is a cycle. If you are strapped for cash on a down turn, you are in serious trouble!!

JT, I will expect that you are buying a new Ford tomorrow?

And lets all keep in mind, that all of the other countries have sured up their Auto makers, and yes that includes the all powerful and perfect Japanesse auto makers as well

stumpmj wrote: Why do you all keep referring to Bob Lutz as a CEO?

Whatever he is...he should be penitent while his whole industry is asking for savior money from the American public. He could've been arrogant when his business was profitable and a world leader. Now he's asking for Welfare and should be just a bit meek.

As I said before...he could be the Fonzi of the car industry but he's still working a manufacturer who's begging for money right now. Be a bit penitent and humble.

forzav12 wrote: Finally, the thought that those jackasses in Congress will in any way have a say over the day to day operations of our nation's auto industry, should scare the hell out of everyone on this board.

I hear ya. Politicians talk a lot but when it comes down to running a car company they're not in their element. But..the other guys have effectively run these companies out of business. Who else is going to step up and take charge? The same guy who's been in charge of losing money for the last 30 yrs?

Something has to change to save the industry. I want to see them succeed. Evidently the current business model is not succeeding. The auto industry is evidently incapable of saving itself from it's own inertia.

JeepinMatt wrote: I just want to put out there that if I let decades-old reputations of vehicles continue to influence me without doing my research, I would wholly avoid Japanese cars as they would be cheaply made rust buckets that would turn to Nestle powder when impacted by anything bigger than a Radio Flyer.

JD Power is now rating Ford as having the same quality as Toyota and Honda. I'd say that the quality of the domestic autos is not at issue in this thread. We're actually talking about someone begging for corporate welfare and coming off as an arrogant arse. Like flying a corporate jet to a meeting where you're whining about not having any money and begging for a handout because no one else will give you some.

The automotive day of reckoning is here fellas. These guys need to collectively stand up and say "We failed. We didn't anticipate future market conditions nor did we save money to cover our collective arses when we could have. We became complacent and sold poor products that no one will buy now. We f'ed up. Can you find it in your hearts to help us?" Then they need to aggressively move more towards building a car I want to buy. Because right now the only car I would consider purchasing is the Ford Mustang. I still won't buy it however because I need a car that is somewhat practical. Hence the reason why I have a 280+ hp hatchback with four doors.

Yeah, JeepinMatt. The English roadsters of today are much stiffer. I'd go so far as to say they are as stiff as the dead.

Everyone says the cars coming out today are of a quality about the same as the Jap cars. The problem the big 3 faced is that they sold us crap for 20-30 years and told us to like it. Now they say, oh, these are good, really, and I'm not lying this time, come on back. It took a long time to get where they are and it's going to take some time to rebuild their reputation.

I rode in a friend's late model Tahoe the other day. While it functioned, the inside door release lever felt like a piece of injection molded plastic that would snap off in my hand at any minute. It was chrome plated and looked nice until you touched it. Not a fair comparison, but then I got into my '99 Lexus and the lever looked identical to the Tahoe lever, but was solid steel.

Anyway, as I have previously said, the deal is done, it is just the details in selling it in. And I see that the auto companies recently gave millions to the same people they are now asking for billions from. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83255

Oh, and my 86 Toyota Truck once took out a Buick Roadmaster. I took it to work today.

Well hell, when I was little my parent's '86 Jetta had the accelerator stick. Our '91 Camry's door handle came off in my little kid hands. The seat brackets collapsed on my mom's 70 something Corolla.

Reputations take a while to change and the American automakers would have an easier time if they had better quality during the 80s and 90s, and the Japanese have been building them reliable for years. I don't think 30 years worth of such build quality, but a while. I just hear so many times "I had a _______ (say, a 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity) and it was a piece of trash. Ever since, I have never bought American and never will!" If people are going to be talking about a '99 Elantra in 26 years, they're going to be screwed for a long time. Yet I've seen their reputation take off in the last 8 years, from late-night show joke to something seen on par with an Accord.

As for British roadsters, think old Triumph TR6 compared to today's Elise, TVR, Airel Atom and even the early 90's Elan and MG TF. Not a heavy hitter these days, but still making quite a lot of noise for a dead industry.

JeepinMatt wrote: Well hell, when I was little my parent's '86 Jetta had the accelerator stick. Our '91 Camry's door handle came off in my little kid hands. The seat brackets collapsed on my mom's 70 something Corolla. Reputations take a while to change and the American automakers would have an easier time if they had better quality during the 80s and 90s, and the Japanese have been building them reliable for years. I don't think 30 years worth of such build quality, but a while. I just hear so many times "I had a _____________ (say, a 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity) and it was a piece of trash. Ever since, I have never bought American and never will!" If people are going to be talking about a '99 Elantra in 26 years, they're going to be screwed for a long time. Yet I've seen their reputation take off in the last 8 years, from late-night show joke to something seen on par with an Accord. As for British roadsters, think old Triumph spitfire compared to today's Elise, TVR, Airel Atom and even the early 90's Elan and MG TF. Not a heavy hitter these days, but still making quite a lot of noise for a dead industry.

FIxed it for ya

Again - this thread is not dealing with reliability issues or perception thereof.

The discussion is about Bob Lutz attitude on an interview show. His attitude has nothing to do with domestic vs. import reliability.

Now, let's get back to the argument at hand. Is Tim Suddard a rich arrogant douche or what?