GM's Difficult Road Ahead

Steve Kroft Reports On Automaker's Troubles

(CBS) 
But a lot of things could go wrong. A potential strike at Delphi Corp., GM’s major parts supplier, could shut down General Motors assembly lines and create a liquidity crisis. Corporate raider Kirk Kerkorian, whose intentions are unknown, is now GM's largest individual stockholder — and making his presence felt. But most of all, GM needs to begin selling more cars.

It needs to revive Buick and Pontiac the same way it resurrected Cadillac, with bold new designs and their own distinct identities.

Those cars, which will save GM, or not, are still in blue shrouds at the company’s super-secret design center in Warren, Mich., under the watchful eye of 74-year-old vice chairman Bob Lutz, a legendary Detroit design guru, who once ran Chrysler.

"Unfortunately this is a car that I'd like to be able to show you, but for competitive reasons we can't show it all. I'll just show you some of the, some of the advanced work that we're doing on grills — that this is obviously a Cadillac, no concealing that," Lutz said, giving Kroft a peek.

"Would you have to kill me if I just took this thing and ripped it right out?" Kroft asked.

"I would not be pleased with you," Lutz replied.

Lutz acknowledges that GM became complacent, produced too many anonymous cars with uninspired designs and delegated the design process too low in the corporate structure.

"During the period of GM's greatness in the 50s and 60s, design ruled. And the finance people ran behind to try to reestablish order and pick up the pieces," says Lutz. "We just lost the focus on design."

There is no detail too small to merit Lutz’s attention, from sheet metal fits to upgrading interiors, and getting rid of what he calls that "nasty rat fur" upholstery.

"I mean, the answer is product, product, product, product, product," says Lutz. "And I'm happy to say that my experiences, that automobile companies always do their best products when they're in dire straits, because all the second guessers get out of the way."

Lutz says the company has turned the corner on reliability, and J.D. Power quality surveys bear him out. Another encouraging sign came at the Detroit Auto Show when Lutz unveiled the new sleek new Camaro concept car, which debuted to unanimous acclaim and was selected as best car in show. It is exactly what GM needs right now — but in its showrooms, not at an auto show.

"We're enthused about it and everybody wants to know, 'So, are you gonna build it?'" says Wagoner.

The answer to that question, Wagoner says, is a firm maybe. "We'd like to do it. … We haven't made the call. We've introduced it as a concept. Sometimes we do that to see how people react to it."

"The best car in the show," Kroft remarked.

"Yeah, well I just got that information," Wagoner says. "I think that does suggest that if we didn't try to build this, we might be brain dead. Stay tuned."