On April 1, 2009, Bob Lutz, GM's vice-president of global product development, stepped down from his esteemed position. This move may have been unexpected but I think I know why he did it. First, for those of you unfamiliar with a man whom we automobile journalists affectionately dubbed "Maximum Bob," some interesting background. Lutz, son of an American father who could well afford to drive exotic automobiles, grew up in Switzerland where he, too, fell in love with fast cars. He also enjoyed fast airplanes, serving as a fighter pilot in the American marine corps from 1954 to 1965. His 45 years of experience in the auto industry included executive time with BMW, presidency of Ford of Europe, and co-chairmanship of Chrysler where he was one of a team that helped create the sensational "cab forward" sedans that briefly turned the company into a design leader. He was also behind such performance icons as the Dodge Viper and Plymouth Prowler.

Unfortunately Lutz became a loser in Daimler-Benz's now-aborted Chrysler takeover, though he soon found another job as chairman and chief executive officer of Exide Technologies. From cars to batteries must have been a comedown yet I suspect he learned a lot about electric vehicle development. When General Motors awoke to the realisation that maybe it needed a genuine "car guy" if it was to survive, Bob Lutz returned to his roots. GM product planning had, until then, been dominated by accountants and lawyers who understood little of the emotions behind automobile ownership. Lutz's assignment was to add "soul" to the company's products. The current Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS and the coming plug-in Chevrolet Volt are examples of his successes. There were failures, too, especially with the Pontiac division where Lutz attempted to restore its performance image by building on products from GM in Australia.

Lutz was a favorite among automobile journalists for his "quoteability." Always outspoken, he was one of the few auto executives willing to reveal his inner thoughts about the industry. You might think that GM's board of directors would disapprove but instead he was given his own blog site where everyday folk like you and me could interact with the great one. I should add that Lutz' physical appearance aided his visual image, for he was handsome, white-haired, and looked every bit the retired jet pilot. Lutz has also been known to admit mistakes, for example, referring to himself in a press conference as "often wrong, but never in doubt." Perhaps his worst gaffe was when he described global warming as "a crock." He has since accepted "global change" and supports the greening of the automobile.

So why did Bob Lutz walk away in the midst of GMs worst catastrophe since the depression? Because he saw the writing on the wall. As the company became absorbed with plant closings and layoffs and began pleading with the governments of the USA and Canada for bailouts, there was no place for a car guy whose mission was the development of radical new products. To make things worse for him, General Motors had shut down its performance division, intended as a competitor for BMW's fabled "M" cars. Too bad, because Cadillac had begun matching or beating the best of the Germans in testing on the latter's fabled Nurburgring circuit. I suspect it won't be long before General Motors withdraws completely from motorsports.

Dominant personalities like Bob Lutz are becoming scarce in corporate board rooms but don't expect Maximum Bob to fade away in the mists of automobile history like Pontiac's John DeLorean or Lee Iacocca, father of the Mustang. Hopefully he'll re-emerge in an entirely new role, perhaps with a specialist producer of hybrid or pure-electric automobiles. If not, well, Bob Lutz can still enjoy his personal collection of classic cars or continue to fly his Czech-built L39 Albatross fighter jet. All his ambitions may not have been fulfilled but at least this car guy had fun during the journey.