Ann Arbor Interview Car czar Bob Lutz jumps into politics

By Kathy Barks Hoffman AP Political Writer ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Consummate "car guy" Bob Lutz still works as an adviser at General Motors Co., but he's a lot freer these days to dive into the world of politics with the same brash certitude that made him such a factor in the automotive business. On Monday, Lutz signed on to be the general finance chairman of Michigan Senate candidate Clark Durant's campaign. In an interview with The Associated Press, the former GM vice chairman said he once considered a political run of his own for Michigan governor in 2010. Then, the Swiss-born Lutz, 79, reconsidered when a GOP insider explained to him how much time and money winning the primary would entail. "I was interested enough to really give it some serious thought. And I was scared away by the financial aspects of it," Lutz said during the interview at his country estate southwest of Ann Arbor. "I decided I'd just rather keep working for GM." Lutz's political opinions aren't limited to state government. He has some thoughts on the presidential race as well. Even though Mitt Romney is a Michigan native and the son of former American Motors chief George Romney, Lutz isn't supporting him in the 2012 Republican primary because he opposed the federal bailout of GM and Chrysler. He thinks more fondly of Romney's GOP opponent, Rick Perry. Lutz had dinner with him at a GM event a couple years ago, and found the Texas governor provided "straight answers," albeit some that were politically correct. Although he recently returned to GM as an adviser to senior management on products and other issues, Lutz has the time to support the candidates who mesh with his view that government too often gets in the way of private industry. How much of a factor that will be remains to be seen, although he's likely to pull in some big-money donors to Durant, who runs charter schools aimed at giving minority students an alternative to Detroit schools. Lutz used to have to contribute money to Democrats such as Michigan Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin and longtime Michigan Rep. John Dingell, because GM requested he donate to those looking out for the auto industry. But since leaving his management job as GM vice chairman in May 2010, he doesn't have to give money or watch what he's saying about politicians who don't agree with his views. "You can't be a senior executive at a major corporation and state your own political views. But ever since I've been off the leash, so to speak" -- here he pauses and grins, cigar in hand -- "I'm able to verbalize my political views." Asked about former Gov. Jennifer Granholm's unsuccessful attempts to lure a Toyota Motor Co. assembly plant to Michigan and her success in attracting an expansion of the Japanese carmaker's technical center near Ann Arbor, Lutz said the moves made no sense. "It's a zero sum game," he said, noting that if a Toyota plant brought 2,000 new jobs to the state, it's likely the Detroit automakers would have had to lay off the same number as they lost sales to the competition. "I personally liked Jennifer Granholm," Lutz said. But "once it looked like Toyota was going to win and take over the world, she went to Japan and wooed Toyota." Granholm has defended her actions in her own book, "A Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America's Economic Future," officially out next week. She contends the Detroit Three were wrong to criticize her courting of Toyota. "Sure, they may steal some talent," she recounts telling Fred Hoffman of then-DaimlerChrysler. "But they'll bring talent, too, and that's a good thing for Michigan." Sitting in a separate office a slight distance from his Alpine-style house, with a Segway outside the door and a wooden sign marking it as "Bob's Garage," Lutz is surrounded by a realistic-looking mockup of a Lamborghini 12-cylinder engine, a U.S. Marines recruiting poster and a display of highly polished stylized aluminum models of the blockbuster cars he helped create, ranging from the Chevrolet Camaro to the Chrysler minivan, Dodge Viper, Chevy Silverado and the Chevy Volt. The blunt-spoken former car executive, whose career spanned 47 years at all three Detroit automakers and German automaker BMW AG, is well-known for his outspoken comments related to the auto industry, including his calling global warming a crock. During the interview, he spoke unflatteringly of former Vice President Al Gore and his efforts to curb global warming, then confidently proclaimed, "The whole thing is on its way out." While Lutz says he generally likes what Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is doing, he calls the political gridlock in Washington, D.C., a clear sign the federal system is broken. "People do respect politicians who will speak their mind and occasionally say something that's not going to play well with most people but is their fundamental belief, because they stand for something," Lutz said. "Everyone is fed up with the political system that we've got." Published: Wed, Sep 14, 2011