The other day I came across MotoMan TV’s recent interview with Bob Lutz. This episode strikes me as a classic example of the strengths and weaknesses of podcasts.
The most positive aspect of the hour-and-a-half episode is that host George J. Notaras (2025) could engage in a considerably more indepth discussion than a cable news segment lasting only a few minutes. This allowed Lutz to share more nuances of his long career in the auto industry.
Lutz dishes attaboys, bromides and barstool philosophy
The weakest part of the interview was that it did not do as promised — offer a “brutally honest review of today’s car world.” Lutz seemed to be so afraid of ruffling the feathers of some top executives that he dished out a fair number of attaboys and bromides.
To make matters worse, Lutz spent far too much time veering off into American politics. In addition, his takes all too often sounded like some guy at the bar who parrots trite partisan talking points. Notaras generally didn’t rein him in. That appears to be because he either agreed with much of what Lutz said or was too awestruck to fact check him.
Notaras’s approach was meaningfully different from that of John McElroy. In an interview of Lutz last year, McElroy (2024) debunked the factual accuracy of a Lutz attack on the environmental superiority of electric vehicles.
Lutz: Detroit failed to see Japanese threat in 1970s
In the MotoMan TV interview Lutz reserved some of his biggest criticisms for the U.S. automakers in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then Detroit believed that if the American public really liked Japanese cars that they would produce similar ones and “push them back out into the Pacific. And there was a huge, false sense of security and hubris” (Notaras, 2025).
Lutz offered the example of staff from Japanese automakers visiting the plants of U.S. automakers and saying, “Oh, so good. Oh, so modern. Oh, we could never be like this.” The Americans “sucked it up.” And then the Japanese “ate our lunch” (Notaras, 2025).
Interestingly, Lutz argued that the Chinese automakers are not going to repeat that performance because “everybody is aware of the threat.” Even so, Lutz acknowledged that how Detroit should respond to the Chinese advantages “is another matter” (Notaras, 2025). Those advantages include a lower cost structure and the ability to bring new products to market much quicker.
Lutz gives a thumbs up to GM and Tesla
When asked how General Motors was currently doing, Lutz responded by saying, “GM is doing just about everything right.” When pressed on that he added, “I keep trying to think of a serious mistake and I frankly don’t see one.”
Lutz proceeded to laud Cadillac’s move upmarket, such as the $300,000-plus Celestiq. He argued that halo cars were crucial to building the brand’s cachet. Meanwhile, he didn’t seem concerned about GM’s ability to adequately cater to the lower reaches of the market as the average new-car price hovers close to $50,000 — and show signs of going higher due to tariffs (Valdes, 2025).
His emphasis on Cadillac reminded me that during his tenure at GM he reportedly championed a variety of halo cars when what the company arguably most needed were better high-volume models. So I wonder: Is Lutz’s product sensibility strongest when it comes to niche markets?
When asked about Tesla, Lutz dismissed the Cybertruck as a “mistake” and suggested that the rest of the lineup had not been adequately updated. However, he argued that the automaker still has technological advantages and that the public would have a “short memory” of Elon Musk’s embrace of “conservative values” (Notaras, 2025).
What to make of Lutz’s musings?
Lutz is an interesting case study of a U.S. auto executive in that he has been remarkably resourceful in staying relevant even though he is now 93 years old (Wikipedia, 2025). In a way he is the closest thing the industry has to a contemporary celebrity.
Thus, it isn’t surprising that smaller-scale podcasters can treat Lutz with great deference. For example, when Jeff Sterns (2024) interviewed Lutz he started off by saying that “first of all let me just get my jitters out of the way.” Notaras was more self assured but treated Lutz with kid gloves throughout his interview.
That resulted in a less journalistically robust discussion. For example, I would question Lutz’s contention that Tesla will rebound from Musk’s recent foray into politics. The polarization engulfing the U.S. may not begin to ease for at least four more years. By the time that it does, the legacy automakers will have rolled out enough compelling electric vehicles to have won over former Tesla fans.
Something is happening here. Either Lutz doesn’t see it or isn’t willing to talk about it.
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RE:SOURCES
- McElroy, John; 2024. “Bob Lutz Talks GM, Ford & Stellantis – AAH 711.” Autoline Network. Posted Sept. 19.
- Notaras, George J.; 2025. “Bob Lutz • A brutally honest review of today’s car world.” MotoMan TV. Posted Sept. 3.
- Sterns, Jeff; 2024. “The Bob Lutz Interview.” Posted May 14.
- Valdes, Rene; 2025. “When Will New Car Prices Drop?” Kelley Blue Book. Posted Sept. 12.
- Wikipedia; 2025. “Bob Lutz (businessman).” Page last edited May 1.
As a 50-year-plus worker in radio-television (and webcasting, too), most podcasts are frankly ego trips in my opinion, as the interviewers do not approach their interviewee with the solid research and professional attitude that interviewers like Diane Rehm (N.P.R.-WAMU) or Terry Gross (N.P.R.-“Fresh Air”-WHYY) do, for example. John McElroy is the real deal in this category, as his interviews bore into the real meat of the situation, as I really learn something about the industry.