Friday 12th February 1932

Born on this day, Robert A. “Bob” Lutz, the General Motors Vice Chairman of Global Product Development. Lutz was also an Executive Vice President at Ford Motor Company, where he led the creation of the Ford Sierra, initiated development of the original Exporer, and a Member of Ford’s Board of Directors. Prior to working at Ford he served as Executive Vice President of sales at BMW for three years, and he earns some credit in the development of the BMW 3-Series. He joined BMW after eight years with GM in Europe. While at General Motors, Lutz championed the import of the Holden Monaro to the US as the Pontiac GTO. Other cars such as the Saturn Sky and its sibling Pontiac Solstice, Pontiac G8, Chevy Malibu, Buick Enclave and Cadillac GTS among others are said to be Lutz initiatives. Lutz has also emphasized a need to produce fuel efficient vehicles, backing the 2010 Chevrolet Volt.