Famed Detroit auto exec says Elon Musk's 'wild ideas' get a free pass from media

Carol Cain | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Elon Musk gave us all a sneak peak at his newest rocket CEO of Tesla and Space X, Elon Musk gave us all a sneak peek at his Falcon Heavy rocket that is expected to take flight in January 2018. Josh King has the story (@abridgetoland).

DETROIT -- One of the most colorful and outspoken auto executives ever to come out of Detroit, Bob Lutz, says the media is giving Tesla's Elon Musk a bit of a pass in how they cover his flurry of announcements.



Lutz, 88, who held top posts at Ford, General Motors and Chrysler over the decades, said Musk needs to be held to account.

“He keeps announcing these wild ideas, like flying to Mars, and the media covers it and then they let it go,” said Lutz. “There’s no way they’d do the same if GM or Ford were announcing this same stuff.“



Few would dispute that Musk is king in getting headlines. He gained attention last week when he said Tesla aims to make an electric pickup truck in the years ahead. He also unveiled an electric big rig and a new electric roadster that he says will be fastest production car ever. In addition to those vehicles, he needs to ramp up production of Tesla’s first mass-market electric sedan, the Model 3 and then launch the Model Y, a mass-market crossover SUV.

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Tesla has been making two luxury electric vehicles, the Model S sedan and Model X crossover.



Lutz says Detroit automakers aren't doing enough to toot their horns when it comes to tech breakthroughs that they're developing. Too often products and innovations from the Detroit Three aren’t getting as much attention as those from Google or Tesla.

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He said he has e-mailed top brass numerous times at the Detroit companies saying they need to ramp up their game when to comes to telling the world about new projects.



GM appears to be listening. Lutz had high praise for GM CEO Mary Barra and that the company has recently been more aggressive in talking about its autonomous and mobility innovations.