Ford may indeed provide a blueprint for GM to follow, but its recent gains also highlight a key challenge facing any GM turnaround—namely that its competitors won’t be standing still. Similarly, Detroit’s third-place player, Chrysler, recently unveiled ambitious plans to return to profitability by 2011 and then push forward with a slew of vehicles built with its new partner Fiat. The one bright spot for GM is that the industry’s once-unstoppable force, Toyota, has finally run into a wall. The Japanese company, which topped GM in global auto sales for the first time two years ago, has suddenly found itself navigating unfamiliar territory, littered with vehicle recalls and excess production capacity, both problems that helped to bring down Detroit. Following its first net loss in 60 years, Toyota launched a major turnaround effort that has so far resulted in the closing of one jointly owned U.S. plant and scaling back at others.
And, in what is no doubt music to the ears of “Maximum Bob,” Toyota has revealed plans to withdraw from Formula One racing events after this year. For the record, Lutz claims he doesn’t plan to make racing the competition a habit, but he’s not exactly ruling it out either. “I’m 77,” he says. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
