Like it or not, Bob Lutz is connected to the Pontiac Solstice. The roadster he made happen, the car he chose to drive out onto the Show floor at the 2001 North American International Auto Show will, at least as an icon, define the experience of Lutz at GM.

That Lutz impact - product first, aggressively so -- has already been felt in the arena of halo cars and small margin vehicles that are sure to make an impression on the public. Not clear, however, is how Lutz will fare when it comes to the foot soldiers, the cars assigned to gain profit and beat the Accords, Civics and Camrys of the world.

"I would like to see General Motors enormously profitable, back over 30% share for North America and worldwide pulling away from Toyota. If I could be present when all of that is achieved, I'd consider myself worthy of retirement," Lutz says.

In order to do that, however, Lutz feels that the toughest hurdle is perception. "The American public believes that American vehicles don't have the same quality level as that of the Japanese and European vehicles. Convincing them that those bad old days are over is the major hurdle. Getting people to consider us again is just going to be difficult," says Lutz. "They see no reason to switch back to an American car when they have perfectly reliable Toyotas or Hondas that they like."