Why oh why is General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson pulling dinosaur Bob Lutz out of retirement and reinstating him as vice-chairman? Let’s ignore the fact that Lutz doesn’t believe man is responsible for global warming and calls talk of climate action as “a crock of shit.” But has it occurred to Fritz that Lutz, like former CEO Rick Wagoner, was one of the most powerful executives at GM during its demise into bankruptcy? Hell, why not bring back Wagoner then?

Lutz will be “responsible for all creative elements of products and customer relationships,” according to a GM release. “GM’s brands, marketing, advertising, and communications will report to Lutz for consistent messaging and results.”

No disrespect to Lutz, who certainly has a skills set that could be of some use to GM. He was the driving force behind GM’s Volt, though only pursued it with vigour after Tesla Motors came on the scene. But he’s also a guy who has dissed hybrids as making no sense, and most of his past projects have been about building more powerful, gas-guzzling vehicles, not smaller more fuel-efficient models. Lutz, 77, is arguably out of touch with the new generation of car-buyers that the new GM must tap if it hopes to regain its footing in the automotive marketplace.

By bringing Bob Lutz back, GM risks falling into the same trap that put it in hot water and eventually plunged it into bankruptcy. Since the U.S. government owns a majority of GM, I wonder what its position is on the rehiring of Lutz. What GM needs is some youth in the driver’s seat and executives that have the vision necessary to reinvent the company, not a climate-change denying auto-industry dinosaur that may end up doing more harm than good.

Personally, I’m looking forward to Magna International’s entry into the electric-car market, including its partnership with Ford and future partnerships that could bring electric-vehicle manufacturing to Canada.

It’s called the PUMA, and it’s expected in 2012 as part of a partnership between GM and Segway. Now, I’m sure every blog and newspaper on the planet has written about this, but I just wanted an excuse to post the picture — this thing is cool. It will have a range of up to 60 kilometres and a speed of between 50 and 60 kilometres an hour, so it’s basically a hybrid between an electric scooter, a Segway Human Transporter, and a low-speed vehicle like the kind ZENN offers. Low-speed vehicles have been a niche market, but GM and Segway could bring brand power at a time when municipalities and their citizens are looking for ways to ease congestion and urban pollution. This is ideal for the household that’s looking to ditch the second gas guzzler in exchange for a fuel-efficient urban two-seater.

Hopefully by 2012 Ontario will finally agree to let LSVs on city streets. The PUMA, it should be pointed out, doesn’t appear designed to tolerate Canadian winters. Perhaps an enclosed version is in the works.

Over at the GM-Volt blog there’s a report that General Motors, according to the headline, “Admits to a Working Relationship with EEStor.”

Well, not exactly if you go on to read the post. Unless, of course, having EEStor send information in the mail counts as “working relationship.” That said, the admission by Denise Gray, GM’s director of advanced batteries, that the auto giant has been in touch with EEStor is interesting enough.

Asked whether she’s seen an EESU prototype, Gray backed off a bit. “I probably shouldn’t say if I’ve received parts or not, that’s kind of confidential. But we are in touch with them and we are continuing to encourage them to develop the technology. Because we need as much help as we can possibly get to get the costs down of our battery solution and get the reliability up.”

Man, I can only imagine the kind of non-disclosure agreements these people have to sign. Obviously, EEStor is in discussions with a number of potential partners and customers, yet information about the company still dangles in the territory of rumour and speculation.

My personal prediction: a major announcement from EEStor in March.

GM’s Rob Peterson told MarketWatch that getting the Volt launched by 2010 is still a “top-priority program” for General Motors, which is staring bankruptcy in the face and is pleading — along with Ford and Chrysler — for a multibillion-dollar bailout from Washington. This is reassuring, and of course it makes loads of sense. If GM has any chance of getting more bailout money it has to convince U.S. Congress that it’s serious about changing its ways by producing vehicles that are more efficient and will help wean the United States from foreign oil. To cut back on the Volt wouldn’t send the right message to Washington, so the Volt in many ways is the only thing that GM has going for it. There’s also the fact that most of GM’s main competitors also have plans for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles by 2010 or shortly after, so to stay competitive it really has no choice. (more…)

I was fortunate enough Tuesday evening to attend a small private dinner with GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz, who flew into Toronto following the launch of the Volt in Detroit earlier in the day. The 76-year-old auto executive was quite entertaining for his straight-shooting talk and occasional joke. (more…)