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Lutz dishes dirt on GM in latest Autoline Detroit

Bob Lutz sits down for Autoline Detroit - Click above to watch video after the jump
Autoline Detroit recently played host to Bob Lutz, and, as is always the case, the former General Motors vice chairman dished out some great commentary. Lutz was promoting his new book Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business, and talk quickly turned to his role as it related to product development and high-level decision making at GM. While on the topic of brand management, Lutz revealed a few rather interesting tidbits about his former employer:
All Chevrolet vehicles were required to have five-spoke aluminum wheels and a chrome band up front, as part of the Bowtie brand's overall image.

GM laying off more than 4,000 workers Monday morning

According to reports from Automotive News, The Detroit News, and CNN, General Motors plans to begin laying off more than 4,000 salaried workers starting Monday morning. In a statement to AN, a spokesperson for the automaker said, "We are not confirming timing. Our employees are our priority. We will communicate with them first." We've been expecting layoffs at General Motors since November, 2018. At the time, the Detroit-based automaker announced it would seek to shed 8,100 salaried employees, shut down five assembly plants in North America, and kill off several slow-selling models. One month earlier, GM offered buyout packages to 18,000 workers and said it would seek to cut its global workforce by 25 percent. A spokesperson said at the time the moves were "proactive steps to get ahead of the curve by accelerating our efforts to address overall business performance." The cost-cutting moves are expected to save GM up to $2.5 billion in 2019 and as much as $6 billion by 2020. David Kudla, CEO and chief investment strategist of Mainstay Capital Management, referred to the impending culling as "Black Monday" and told The Detroit News that the layoffs would begin around 7:30 a.m. and continue in waves throughout the coming days and weeks. GM plans to deliver on its fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 earnings report on Wednesday. President Donald Trump plans to deliver the annual State of the Union address a day earlier on Tuesday. We expect to hear plenty more from both sides over the next several days.

Star Wars Car Drives To The Dark Side Of Comic Con

When it comes to designing coveted collectible toys for sale at Comic-Con, the annual celebration of pop culture lifting off Thursday in San Diego, the sky's the limit for the designers at Mattel. Fittingly, the building where Mattel's dreamers conceive of their limited-edition playthings is just down the street from the Los Angeles International Airport. Inside the colorful design center - a Hot Wheels-themed shuttle bus transports employees from Mattel's parking garage - the designers have spent the past year working on 10 toys created especially for the Comic-Con crowd, including a replica of the Batmobile from the upcoming game "Batman: Arkham Knight" and a 9-inch-tall action figure of Superman killer Doomsday. "We don't have to worry about retail. We don't have to worry about margins," said Doug Wadleigh, Mattel's senior vice president of global brand marketing for boys and entertainment. "We don't have to worry about operational efficiencies. We only have to worry about creating the coolest toys for our fans. Period." It also offers some escape from Mattel's reality these days. Like other toy makers struggling in this digital, video-centric age, the company is trying to remain relevant in the retail world. Core brands like Barbie have seen less of a demand, with a 14 percent drop in sales in the first quarter of this year. Mattel had a net loss for the first three months ending March 31 that totaled $11.2 million. But things will at least seem rosier at Comic-Con, where eager buyers for the toys await (the only other place they will be sold is on the Mattel collector's site). Mattel's exclusives this year run between $20 and $85, but elite toys can fetch much more when they're put up for auction. The crown jewel for Wadleigh and his team this year is a Darth Vader die-cast car, the first official collaboration from Hot Wheels and the "Star Wars" franchise. The car - imagine if a Chevrolet Corvette C5 and the villainous Sith lord's helmet had a baby - comes in a sleek black box and encased in a replica of Vader's lightsaber, complete with a swooshing sound effect. "We've been trying to partner with Lucasfilm and Disney on this property for a long time," said Wadleigh. A full-size working replica of the Vadermobile will be on display at Mattel's booth at the massive San Diego Convention Center.