tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959361113187475098.post3682896995813404349..comments2024-01-14T05:38:07.296-05:00Comments on Autos and Economics: Another Round with RattnerMike Smitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10310816368811158899noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959361113187475098.post-29313118515520377632011-01-31T02:01:24.757-05:002011-01-31T02:01:24.757-05:00For the record, Bob Lutz, a real "car guy,&qu...For the record, Bob Lutz, a real "car guy," has been very complimentary of the Auto Task Force's work, although he didn't spend a lot of time talking about the dealer terminations during a session a few months ago.David Ruggleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04354349511843594159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959361113187475098.post-13684425621996913482011-01-29T09:36:51.892-05:002011-01-29T09:36:51.892-05:00@ Anonymous - Actually, I agree with everything yo...@ Anonymous - Actually, I agree with everything you say. There has been a trend over time for bean counters to be trumped by finance guys in the management of the D3. Lutz made it as high as any car guy in GM in recent times. Iacocca was the quintisential product guy to run a U.S. auto company. But when car guys need numbers, they go to the bean counters. <br /><br />Perhaps I should have worded my premise better in retrospect. The criticism of Rattner and his team was based on them coming from Wall Street instead of the auto industry, not necessarily for not being "car guys." Rattner's point is that the "guys" from the auto industry not only didn't know how much money they needed, but were in complete denial about their plight. Only Mark Zandi, definitely not a car guy or from the auto industry, got the numbers right.David Ruggleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04354349511843594159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959361113187475098.post-83590380078123761542011-01-26T12:09:20.837-05:002011-01-26T12:09:20.837-05:00I would hardly call Wagner, Mullaly, or Nardelli c...I would hardly call Wagner, Mullaly, or Nardelli car guys. Wagner is the only one with many years of work experience in a car related company, but he came up through the finance side of GM which is famous for producing managers that are NOT car people. Mullaly is an engineer, but the bulk of his experience is from Boeing which is a very different type of market. Nardelli is also an engineer, but with power systems at GE and then worked in retail at Home Depot. I've seen very little evidence that any of them are car people in the same sense gasoline junkies such as Bob Lutz or Soichiro Honda. But since Rattner is definitely not a car person, I guess he wouldn't know one if he saw one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com