Ex-Chrysler Exec Robert Lutz to Head Troubled Exide Corp.
Robert Lutz, the flamboyant former Chrysler Corp. executive who helped spark the auto maker’s 1990s renaissance, hopes to use his management prowess to rescue the maker of Diehard batteries.
Exide Corp., the world’s leading manufacturer of lead-acid batteries for auto and industrial uses, said Monday that Lutz will become chairman, president and chief executive officer Dec. 1.
Lutz, 66, is taking over an embattled company that has been under fire for several months. It has been hit by investor lawsuits, a fraud investigation by the Florida attorney general’s office and management turnover.
The stock market reacted favorably to Lutz’s appointment. Exide, based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., climbed $3.13 to close at $17.63 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Lutz, an outspoken former Marine who enjoys good cigars, fine wine and flying jet fighters, was unavailable for comment. In a statement, he said his goal is to make Exide “not only the biggest, but the best and most profitable battery company in the world.”
He joined Chrysler in 1986, after stints at Ford Motor Co. and BMW. He had his biggest influence in product development, reinvigorating Chrysler’s dowdy lineup with eye-catching models such as the Viper sports coupe.
Lutz, a media favorite, is regarded by some colleagues as arrogant and tactless. He alienated former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca, who passed over Lutz in 1992 to name as his successor General Motors Corp.’s Robert Eaton.
Although he favored the merger of Chrysler and Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler, which officially opens for business today, Lutz saw no role for himself in the combined company and resigned as vice chairman in April. He is working as a consultant to Indian Motorcycle Co., hoping to revive the defunct brand, and promoting “Guts,” his management philosophy book.
Lutz is taking over a company that had sales of $2.2 billion last year and supplies batteries to Chrysler as well as to major auto parts retailers such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., which sells Exide products under the Diehard name.
Exide’s second-quarter earnings of $2.3 million were off 67% from a year earlier. Several acquisitions last year left the company highly leveraged with $1.3 billion in debt. Analysts say it has high operating costs in highly competitive markets.
Its problems are further clouded by several investor lawsuits charging that the company made misleading statements that inflated the stock price. In Florida, state authorities are investigating charges that Exide sold defective batteries to Sears and sold used batteries as new. The company denies the charges.
Lutz replaces Arthur Hawkins, who resigned last month after the board of directors expressed unhappiness with his management.
