Lee Iacocca may have pitted Bob Lutz and Steve Miller against one another to become his successor as chairman of Chrysler Corp., but neither man is going to strap on the gloves or grab the rapiers and do battle for the coveted post.
At least that`s what Lutz told us during a preview of Chrysler`s 1991 lineup.
Lutz, 56, is president of Chrysler Motors Corp., the car- and truck-building subsidiary of Chrysler Corp., and Miller, 48, is vice chairman of Chrysler Corp.
A recent Tribune article (Business, Sept. 9) pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of Lutz and Miller after Iacocca said they would be judged over the next 12 months to see who would make the most worthy successor.
During a break in the action at the Chrysler preview, Lutz took issue with a few of the article`s points. Miller did not attend the preview.
”What bothers me the most,” Lutz said, ”is the impression that Steve and I are in a contest. We`ve talked, and each will be comfortable with the other as chairman. We get along terrifically.”
The article stated that when it comes to strengths, Lutz is well versed in product, Miller in finance. As for weaknesses, Miller is not well steeped in product, or Lutz in finance. And, several said, Lutz is a forceful individual, bordering on domineering.
”About being difficult to work for, I had our personnel people conduct a confidential study to find out if the people who work for me think I intimidate them or come on too strong. I got a clean bill of health,” Lutz said.
Lutz said he doesn`t mind being called a product guy, because he is. But he also considers himself a good businessman and hardly ignorant in the ways of finance.
”I`ve always felt I have sales and marketing strength and have always been extremely cost conscious,” he said. ”As a matter of fact, a tight discipline on cost is one of the things I brought to the party when I came to Chrysler from Ford. (He had been chairman of Ford of Europe and had run its truck operations.) I`m tough on setting and meeting cost targets.”
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The 1991 Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager have been restyled, but not radically. ”Mini-van owners aren`t radical people, and they already think the van was 95 percent perfect,” Lutz said.
For those who look at the new van and insist they see no differences, Lutz said that $600 million was poured into the changes. ”The only piece that`s the same between the old and new van is the roof,” he said.
In addition to styling changes, the `91 van offers antilock brakes (ABS)
and all-wheel drive for the first time. ABS is an $800 option; all-wheel drive costs $1,800. The one safety item missing is a driver`s-side air bag. The mini-vans will offer them next spring.
And for those who want a touch more power than the 3.3 liter V-6 delivers, the 3.8 liter V-6, which will be offered in the Chrysler Imperial for the 1991 model year, is likely to be added to the mini-vans for 1992.
The vans also offer ”more cupholders than the Queen Elizabeth II,”
according to Ben Bidwell, chairman of Chrysler Motors.
As if Chrysler wasn`t already the champ when it comes to cupholders, it earns more kudos for 1991 for adding kids` juice box holders in the extended- length Grand Caravan and Grand Voyager.
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Bidwell said a decision on whether the Jeep/Eagle division will get a version of the Dodge Dakota truck will be made in the fourth quarter, and a decision on whether to go ahead with a mini-utility vehicle code-named the JJ, which would be similar to the Chevy/Geo Tracker, won`t be made before year`s end.
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Mention guzzlers and concerns that the federal government might increase the 27.5-mile-per-gallon corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for 1991 to 40 m.p.g. for 2001, and Lutz gets ruffled.
”Some members of the public still think there lurks out there a 125-m.p.g. carburetor, and (that) when our hands and feet are put to the fire, we`ll grudgingly put it at the disposal of society.
”We took cars down from grotesque dimensions in the `70s, took the V-8 down to a V-6 and in some cases four-cylinder engines, went from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive and took 2,000 pounds of weight out of cars to get where we are today, and we just can`t pull the rabbit out of the hat twice,” he said.
”We`d be delighted to wave the wand and get 35 to 40 m.p.g., but we flat-out don`t know how to do it,” he said.
Why not battery-powered electric cars?
”You`d be taking 800 pounds of lead out with you for a drive,” he replied. ”If thermonuclear power meant electricity was free, then battery power would be efficient.”
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The Cavalier ragtop makes a return next spring after a one-year absence, but the hottest small car in the Chevy lineup, the Geo Storm, is not going to get the convertible treatment, said Jim Perkins, Chevy general manager.
”If we could find an inexpensive way to do it, then maybe, but we haven`t. Besides, the Storm (shipped to the U.S. from Isuzu) is tied to import quotas, and we can only get 90,000 cars a year,” he added, meaning that Chevy can sell all the 2-door coupes it gets without having to invest money in a convertible to lure buyers. If Storm sales were to falter, you probably would see a convertible to bring back customers.
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The trouble in the Persian Gulf has cost Chevrolet 11,000 sales. That`s the number of Caprice sedans (minus U.S. emission-control and safety equipment) that were ordered for Kuwait and had to be pulled off line, according to Perkins.
While losing 11,000 sales to the Mideast, Chevy will sell 60,000 Caprices to police forces in the U.S. Why such big cars for the coppers? ”Because criminals haven`t gotten any smaller,” Perkins said.
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Bill Bruce, vice president and general manager of Nissan`s luxury Infiniti division, said 30 percent of Infiniti buyers trade in Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar cars, and another 30 percent trade in Cadillacs or Lincolns. The remainder are from owners of Japanese cars trading up.
The Infiniti Q45 sedan carries a $500 gas-guzzler tax without active suspension, and a $1,050 guzzler tax with active suspension. Why not make a concerted effort to eliminate the tax for failing to meet a 22.5 m.p.g. average in city/highway driving?
”We could do that by detuning the engine, or we could leave the engine alone and just add the guzzler tax onto the price of the car, like we now do, and we decided to keep the performance,” he said.
Then why not bring out a rocket ship like the $60,000, 2-seater Acura NSX sports car?
”We have no plans for a super coupe in response to the NSX at this time,” he said, despite the fact that such a model is under development in Japan. ”And we have no plans at this time for a V-12 engine.”
OK, then how about 4-wheel drive?
”Our traction control is the next best thing to 4-wheel drive without adding the cost, the weight and the loss in fuel economy. We aren`t going to go with 4-wheel drive at this time. We`ve been talking about it, and they`ve been studying it back in Japan, but there seems to be more demand for it in Japan and Europe. In this country, when you talk 4-wheel drive, people want it in utility vehicles, not cars,” he said. ”It`s doable, but only if there`s demand for it.”
