DETROIT  Robert A. Lutz, the outspoken former Marine fighter pilot behind many of the most eye-catching and popular vehicles that General Motors has introduced over the last decade, intends to retire May 1, the company said Wednesday.  Robert A. Lutz, one of the four vice chairmen of General Motors, also spent time as a top executive at both the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler during his 47-year automotive career.  Mr. Lutz, one of four G.M. vice chairmen, is one of the few top executives remaining from before the company’s brief stint in bankruptcy protection last year.  “The influence Bob Lutz has had on G.M.’s commitment to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles will last for years to come,” G.M.’s chairman and chief executive, Ed Whitacre, said in a statement. “I, along with many other men and women in G.M. and throughout the industry, have greatly benefited from his passion, wisdom and guidance.”  Analysts who follow G.M. said Mr. Lutz had helped the company become more competitive by emphasizing the need for appealing designs, even when it meant spending more money.  The news comes a day after G.M. shuffled the executive ranks of its North American business as it tries to keep its postbankruptcy recovery from stalling. Mr. Lutz’s role was not mentioned in the shake-up, which involved reassigning some managers and separating sales and marketing responsibilities.  “He was able to say, ‘We can’t afford not to,’ ” said Jeremy P. Anwyl, the chief executive of Edmunds.com, which gives car-buying advice to consumers. “He would say that they had a lot of talented people all along but they weren’t given the authority or the voice to do what they needed to.”  It also follows recent assertions by Mr. Lutz, who turned 78 last month, that he would not leave G.M. soon. In January, at the Detroit auto show, Mr. Lutz told a gathering of analysts that he was “planning to be with General Motors for quite a while, if the board will have me and my health holds out.”  Since then, Mr. Lutz has come to believe that G.M.’s “product-led mind-set” is firmly established and that the time is right for him to leave, a G.M. spokesman, Pat Morrissey, said. Mr. Morrissey said the announcement was not related to this week’s management changes.  “I can confidently say that the job I came here to do more than nine years ago is now complete; the team I have been fortunate to lead has far exceeded my expectations,” Mr. Lutz said in the G.M. statement. “The absolute commitment to being a product-driven company is ingrained throughout the organization.”  Mr. Lutz originally announced plans to leave G.M. by the end of 2009. But after the company emerged from bankruptcy protection in July, he agreed to stay indefinitely to run product development, marketing and communications. When Mr. Whitacre replaced Fritz Henderson as chief executive in December, Mr. Lutz’s role shifted again, to that of an adviser to Mr. Whitacre, who was new to the industry.  Mr. Lutz was hired at G.M. in 2001 by Mr. Henderson’s predecessor, Rick Wagoner. Mr. Wagoner resigned in April 2009 at the request of the Obama administration as it prepared to extend more aid to the carmaker.  Mr. Lutz, who was born in Switzerland, was also a top executive at Ford Motor and Chrysler during his 47-year automotive career. Among the vehicles he is credited with creating are the Dodge Viper sports car, the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu sedan and the recently discontinued Pontiac Solstice convertible.  He used to speak critically of environmentally friendly cars like hybrids and created a stir in 2008 by dismissing global warming as “a total crock.” More recently, though, he became the face of G.M.’s coming plug-in car, the Chevrolet Volt, and has described the electrification of vehicles as inevitable.
Robert A. Lutz, 78, who had said earlier that he had not plans to leave, now says he is ready to retire.