Bob LutzGeneral Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is likely counting down the days until the end of this month. Come May 1, 2010, Maximum Bob will retire from his post in Detroit, supposedly for good. The guy has around twelve lifetimes of experience charting the waters of the auto industry, and as such, has a thing or two to say about his time with both The General and Chrysler, as well as some of his juicier quotes from the past. AOL Autos correspondent Kevin Ransom recently sat down with Lutz for a quick interview.

While no one will be shocked to hear that Lutz is most proud of his work on the Chevrolet Volt, the guy did offer a few insights into the workings of one of the world's biggest car manufacturers. Some of the suits at GM were against bringing the extended-range plug-in to market, and not just because of the company's experience with the EV-1.

In the interview, Lutz says that GM was previously committed to fuel cells as a solution to everyone's fossil-fuel woes, and the company was dumping plenty of cash on R&D in that direction before he managed to steer the Volt into the limelight.

And what about climate change? Lutz famously voiced his disbelief in the theory that CO² emissions from vehicles contribute to global warming. When Ransom asked if he had changed his opinion, the soon-to-be-retired Lutz simply stated that he's not the only skeptic out there. We'll miss you, Bob.

[Source: AOL Autos]