MOTORSPORT : Bob Lutz bags race spending

One of the foremost statesmen in the world motor industry, Bob Lutz, has spoken out against car manufacturers spending money on racing.

It simply isn't worth the dollars outlaid, says the 83-year-old Swiss-born American, who had a celebrated career at General Motors (twice), BMW, Ford and Chrysler.

Lutz has decried the 'Win on Sunday, sell on Monday' adage in his regular column in the May edition of Road & Track magazine.

"Today, as a manufacturer, I would no longer spend the money [on motor racing]," Lutz wrote.

"Not on Formula 1, nor any other open-wheel series, the DTM [the German touring car championship that has a high profile in Europe], any sedan series, and most certainly not on NASCAR [American stock car racing]."

Over his long career in the industry, cars in which Lutz had a hand in developing and selling included the Ford Sierra, the BMW 3 series and the Dodge Viper; and he championed the importation to the US of the last Australian Holden Monaro as the Pontiac GTO.

He now has his own business, Lutz Communications, and has just become chairman of Via Motors, a new American company that plans to convert GM trucks to hybrids.

Once a climate change denier, Lutz has emphasised the need to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles in recent times.

He spent the last decade of his time in the mainstream motor industry as one of the top executives at GM and said he was "vocal in my disdain" for Chevrolet and Pontiac's involvement in NASCAR.

"Win on Sunday, sell on Monday certainly wasn't working for the humble, pushrod V6 Grand Prix sedans and Monte Carlo coupes," he said in the Road & Track column.

Lutz despaired, as someone involved with a manufacturer, that media coverage of NASCAR "was always focused on the driver, not on the marque".

His comments will resonate in the Australian offices of some car companies that have histories of continuing to spend – to varying degrees – on racing while seeing sales of their road vehicles decline.

Lutz felt that too often marketing budgets were used to sponsor race programs by mid-level executives who enjoyed "the VIP treatment – wining and dining, meeting drivers, touring the track".