Can the Volt’s Buzz Save GM?

General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz think the buzzy publicity for the yet-to-launch electric Volt vehicle can lift all boats, and told a room full of PR people so during his keynote at the 2008 PRSA International Conference this week.

Despite some circular–or Palinesque–quotes in the Detroit Free Press, Lutz was a hit on Monday:

“One of the reasons that we are being so open with the Volt and permitting the media to participate in the development is that this is uncharted territory for us,” Lutz said.

“In the unlikely event that we were going to hit some huge stumbling block, we wanted the world to kind of see how we got to that stumbling block and what that stumbling block was. As it happens, luckily, we
don’t seem to be encountering any stumbling blocks.”

Non-car types following corporate blogging became familiar with his name a few years ago when GM’s Fastlane blog launch with Lutz as the main blogger.

According to chats and Tweets with attendees, he was in his element, more so than say his Colbert Report appearance last month.

Full text of Mr. Lutz’s keynote available on the PRSA site.

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