Kurt Ritter... first gone from Chevy, now gone from GM.

The Car Connection:
RITTER LEAVES BUICK-PONTIAC-GMC

Just two months after being named the marketing chief for General Motors’ Buick and Pontiac-GMC divisions and following a career working for Chevrolet, Kurt Ritter has left the company to become the new head of ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi’s Los Angeles office. In his new duties Ritter will be in charge of Toyota’s North American ad work, according to a report in Automotive News. The industry weekly says former Buick marketing head Roger Adams will step in for GM on an interim basis; a permanent replacement is to be named this week. Ritter was named as the first marketing chief for the three brands together in February, as GM began an effort to combine its marketing might for the complementary divisions.

Given the lack of attention the F-bods got, that may be a good thing.

Originally posted by USHotRod
Given the lack of attention the F-bods got, that may be a good thing.

Well, from what everyone was saying, Mr. Ritter, was actually one of Camaro's best friends, and one of those pulling hardest for it while at Chevy (and presumably would have done the same for Firebird at Pontiac)

:(

Not good news at all! Not for GM and not for the Camaro.

Originally posted by Darth Xed
Well, from what everyone was saying, Mr. Ritter, was actually one of Camaro's best friends, and one of those pulling hardest for it while at Chevy (and presumably would have done the same for Firebird at Pontiac)

:(
'Tis true
This is bad new for sure. :(
Hopefully someone equally as F-Body friendly can take his place!

Yeah, I think we lost a friend.:(

Originally posted by USHotRod
Given the lack of attention the F-bods got, that may be a good thing.

That's a pretty shocking thing to hear from you HotRod! Kurt Ritter was perhaps the highest ranking person in GM that pushed hard not only for Camaro, but also a RWD "sports sedan", AND a RWD coupe (re: Monte Carlo) at Chevrolet!!

General Managers at GM's divisions can't simply snap their fingers and make cars appear. GM pretty much dictates what each car division sells, and it's up to the General Manager to sell them. Kurt Ritter was very, very aware that Chevrolet needed Camaro as well as other exciting cars, and along with other people at Chevrolet, lobbied hard for them.

Cadillac and Pontiac had the priority with GM's limited resources & money, and Chevy's just now getting attention. The really sad thing is that all the work Kurt Ritter did for Chevrolet's product line won't be seen for years.

So when that rear drive performance sedan or rear drive Monte Carlo, or if that new Camaro shows up between now and 2007, remember that Kurt Ritter was central in making that happen.

Originally posted by guionM
That's a pretty shocking thing to hear from you HotRod! Kurt Ritter was perhaps the highest ranking person in GM that pushed hard not only for Camaro, but also a RWD "sports sedan", AND a RWD coupe (re: Monte Carlo) at Chevrolet!!

General Managers at GM's divisions can't simply snap their fingers and make cars appear. GM pretty much dictates what each car division sells, and it's up to the General Manager to sell them. Kurt Ritter was very, very aware that Chevrolet needed Camaro as well as other exciting cars, and along with other people at Chevrolet, lobbied hard for them.

Cadillac and Pontiac had the priority with GM's limited resources & money, and Chevy's just now getting attention. The really sad thing is that all the work Kurt Ritter did for Chevrolet's product line won't be seen for years.

So when that rear drive performance sedan or rear drive Monte Carlo, or if that new Camaro shows up between now and 2007, remember that Kurt Ritter was central in making that happen.

Whoops my bad. I obviously have this man confused with someone else. I retract my former statement. Learn something new everyday dont we?

Originally posted by USHotRod
Whoops my bad. I obviously have this man confused with someone else. I retract my former statement. Learn something new everyday dont we?

You probally confused him with former GM President Ron Zarella....:yuck:

Originally posted by guionM
You probally confused him with former GM President Ron Zarella....:yuck:

Or Don Hackworth.... :rolleyes:

Kurt Ritter was a guy like Jon Moss, John Henricy, or Scott Settlemire. These are car lovers from the performance standpoint and Camaro supporters. Ritters loss wil be felt but there are more who can get the job done. Lots of top ranking GM execs were around when the hot rodding days raged and they know what the Camaro was and should be. It just takes money and time... just like any worhtwile project...
GM is controlled by a board of directors and a NAO Strategy board so any new model must be approved by these people. Profit and loss are tops on their list and they care more for stock price than sticker price. While its seems like a no-brainer to say GM needs a Camaro, its more difficult to convince the people holding the purse.
The days of John DeLorean hidding a 389 c.i. V8 in a midsized LeMans and slapping the name GTO on it before the top GM brass figures what he did are over!

Originally posted by 99SilverSS
...The days of John DeLorean hidding a 389 c.i. V8 in a midsized LeMans and slapping the name GTO on it before the top GM brass figures what he did are over!

Or running a mid engined car with a extremely rigid internal skeleton (great for handling and performance evolution), then sticking a weak 4 cylinder engine in it for a year or 2, and selling it to the board as a "Commuter Car" :lol:

Originally posted by guionM
Or running a mid engined car with a extremely rigid internal skeleton (great for handling and performance evolution), then sticking a weak 4 cylinder engine in it for a year or 2, and selling it to the board as a "Commuter Car" :lol:

Better sold as a commuter car than fire hazard! ;)

-or selling displacement on demand to the board and the public.... oh wait they're doing it again!:o

Damn this sucks. As soon as I read the post about how Kurt Ritter left Chevy for Pontiac all I thought of was the fact that maybe he'd be the one to at least fight and try to get Firebird back. Now that he left I'm a little less hopeful for Firebird. :( :mad:

GM peeved at advertising agency for hiring Kurt Ritter
By Jean Halliday
May 19, 2003

General Motors is angry with Publicis Groupe for hiring away marketing exec Kurt Ritter to work on Toyota's business - and could punish the holding company as a result.

"We've voiced our extreme displeasure to Publicis," CJ Fraleigh, executive director of corporate advertising for GM, told Advertising Age, a sister publication to Automotive News. Fraleigh called Ritter's hiring unacceptable and inappropriate.

This month, Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the ad agencies owned by Publicis Groupe, hired Ritter as CEO of the agency's Torrance, Calif., office, which services the account of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

Publicis Groupe also owns agencies that do about $350 million in business with GM. Publicis' Chemistri unit, formerly D'Arcy, handles Cadillac and Pontiac. And the holding company's GM Planworks office in Detroit has the automaker's consolidated media planning and research account.

Asked whether GM might punish the holding company by taking away business, Fraleigh said only, "Publicis and their employees have to do what's best for them, and we have to do what's best for us."

Neither Publicis nor Saatchi gave GM a heads-up on the plan to hire Ritter, according to two executives close to GM. That task would likely have fallen to Roger Haupt, COO at Publicis. Haupt did not return calls and e-mails for comment before 5 p.m. Friday, May 16.

Ritter was named general manager of both Buick and Pontiac-GMC on March 1. He had spent nearly 32 years at GM, nearly all with Chevrolet. Ritter could not be reached for comment.