Description:
Robert A. Lutz, the hard-driving former Chrysler president, shares his best insights for business success in Guts. Lutz tells how he helped engineer a second comeback at Chrysler with "hard work, hard thinking and, yes, guts." When Lutz arrived at the auto maker in 1986, all of Chrysler's cars and trucks--except its minivans and Jeep vehicles--were outdated and boring. The company lagged so far behind the competition that it lost $800 million one year alone. Unlike 1979, when the auto maker first experienced near financial ruin, Lutz's first year would see no federal bailout. Lutz explains that he almost completely overhauled the company. He reorganized engineers into cross-functioning teams, promoted individual freedom and creativity, and attacked the bureaucracy. The results: a hot-selling Ram pickup truck with an innovative design that boosted interior space; the popular "LH" family sedan; the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which capitalized early on America's love of sport-utility vehicles; and the Viper, a six-speed, high-performance sports car that sells for half the price of its European competitors. The son of a Swiss banker who shuttled between Wall Street and Zurich, Lutz showed little ambition as a teenager. He didn't graduate from high school until he was 22. It took a stint in the Marines and a hard push from his father to develop the discipline that led to a successful international career in the car industry. He was chair of Ford in Europe and a top official at General Motors and BMW before going to Chrysler. Lutz also knows disappointment: Bob Eaton--not Lutz--replaced Lee Iacocca as CEO of Chrysler in 1992. Yet, instead of pouting in defeat, Lutz stuck with the company. He retired earlier this year, proud of his role in Chrysler's merger with Germany's Daimler-Benz. Guts is a lively business-management book. It's the story of one man's passion for automobiles--and how he jump-started a giant company that makes them. --Dan Ring
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