The publication Global Auto Insider says that General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz offered Wolfgang Reitzle, then the head of Ford Premier Automotive Group, the chance to run the Opel and Saab units.
If he had accepted, Reitzle claimed in an interview, he could have succeeded Lutz at GM after 2004.
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Reitzle said Lutz directly made the offer to “jump ship”, adding that he, Reitzle, believes GM will take over Fiat this summer and that he likely would also have run Fiat Auto if he had accepted the job.
Global Auto Insider said GM and Ford spokesmen would not comment on Reitzle’s claims but “multiple sources” confirm their accuracy.
Reitzle added that Ford offered him a new job in charge of the company’s global research and development activities, in a last-minute effort to keep him. Reitzle would have added the new responsibilities to running PAG but the offer came too late to convince him to stay.
Reitzle declined the GM offer on April 15, only two days before resigning from Ford to head Linde.
In his interview he said: “I’d rather be captain on a destroyer than first officer on an aircraft carrier. Being in charge at the top level is something I have not done before.”
