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Wall Street Journal Best Seller!
  New York Times Best Seller!

Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: the Battle for the Soul of American Business on the NY Times extended best-seller list since publication;
3rd best-selling list since publication in June; No. 5 in the WSJ list and being translated into most major languages!


 

 

 

 

 

 
When Bob Lutz got into the auto business in the early 1960s, CEOs knew that if you captured the public’s imagination with innovative car design and top quality craftsmanship, the money would follow. The “car guys” held sway, and GM dominated with bold, creative leadership and iconic brands like Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, GMC, and Chevrolet.

 

But then GM’s leadership began to put their faith in numbers and spreadsheets. Determined to eliminate the “waste” and “personality worship” of the bygone creative leaders and maximize profitability, management got too smart for its own good. With the bean counters firmly in charge, carmakers, and much of American industry, lost their single-minded focus on product excellence and their competitive advantage. Decline soon followed.

 

In 2001, General Motors hired Lutz out of retirement with a mandate to save the company by making great cars again. As Vice Chairman, he launched a war against the penny-pinching number-crunchers who ran the company by the bottom line, and reinstated a focus on creativity, design, and cars and trucks that would satisfy GM customers.

 

After emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, GM is finally back on track thanks in part to its embrace of Lutz’s philosophy with acclaimed new models like the Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Equinox, and Buick LaCrosse.

Lutz’s common-sense lessons, combined with a generous helping of fascinating anecdotes, will inspire readers in any industry. As he writes:

 

“It applies in any business. Shoemakers should be run by shoe guys, and software firms by software guys, and supermarkets by supermarket guys. With the advice and support of their bean counters, absolutely, but with the final word going to those who live and breathe the customer experience. Passion and drive for excellence will win over the computer-like, dispassionate, analysis-driven philosophy every time.”

 

 

 

"Car Guys"  Financial Times/Goldman Sachs  2011 Business Book of the Year candidate!!

Read how, in Bob Lutz's words, GM went bankrupt because it gave too much power to MBA types instead of leaders who actuall loved the cars they were producing. And the rest of American business is in danger of going down the same path- unless the people who have passion and feel for customers are allowed back in control. He explains how GM and other American companies can return to greatness- just as GM is finally getting serious about creativity, design and quality again.

Car Guys vs. Bean Counters is the best book written by an auto industry insider since Iacocca in 1984 and deserves to be shelved alongside Alfred Pl Sloan's management classic, My Years with General Motors.

                                   -CNN Money

Car Guys vs. Bean Counters contains all the pearls of wisdom I would expect to see from Bob Lutz. An illuminating read by a true car guy and an excellent business leader."

     -Kent Kresa, chairman emeritus, Northrup Grumman

"This book is a true insider's look at the auto industry... Reading this book is like having a couple beers with this crusty old guy who has done things we haven't ever dreamed possible- and he's a fantastic storyteller to boot. Enjoy and learn."

                       - Jack Covert, 800ceoread

"This is exactly what you'd expect from Bob Lutz; no holds barred, no punches pulled, and no stone left unturned. It's a true insider's perspectrive and a gread read."

              - Stephen J. Girsky, Vice Chairman of GM

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A quote from Lee Iacocca :

"I hereby endorse this book. Not as good

as I would have done, but close...very close!"