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<\/p>\n<\/div>Los Angeles<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 Two weeks before the Chevy Corvette ZR1 supercar was to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, General Motors product chief Mark Reuss had hip surgery.<\/p>\n
Yet. when the 755-horsepower \u2019Vette debuted before a packed house Tuesday night, there was Reuss, standing on stage and leading the ceremonies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that doesn\u2019t get your heart racing, then nothing will,\u201d he said as coupe and convertible versions of the ZR1 revved onstage through a cloud of smoke and pulsating music.<\/p>\n
Reuss wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else.<\/p>\n
A Corvette owner himself, the 34-year GM veteran has put his heart into the seventh-generation Corvette\u2019s development. Rare among top executives, Reuss not only presides over product development, he rigorously tests every vehicle GM makes, frequently joining engineers at the company\u2019s Milford Proving Grounds to put vehicles through the paces on and off the track.<\/p>\n
His passion, along with the aggressive leadership of fellow top execs Mary Barra and Dan Amman, is considered a key reason that GM is leading a Detroit product renaissance that has put the General at the forefront of everything from super sports cars to electrified, autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n
Determined to make vehicles like the Corvette and Camaro coupe world-class performance cars, Reuss is a Nurburgring-licensed driver who can take the 212-mph ZR1, for example, to the world-famous 140-turn race track and push the car\u2019s envelope alongside the program\u2019s hired hot-shoes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no coincidence that Reuss\u2019 twin hip replacements allow him to more easily fold into low-slung sports cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s a Chevy Traverse SUV or a Corvette, I want to drive the car and see where the limits are,\u201d said Reuss in an interview just feet from the ZR1 that he has put countless laps on.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s also important to drive them 4-5 hours off-property on roads that aren\u2019t perfect. To be able to that, you have to be able to read a car. And reading a car means having to drive a car to its capability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chevy last made a ZR1 in 2008, on the old C6 Corvette platform. A lot has changed since then as GM has emerged from the Great Recession and painful bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
This is not only a new-generation Corvette, it\u2019s a company for the next generation. Key to the change is how much Chevy\u2019s bandwidth has grown. This is no longer a truck and horsepower brand. It is a technology brand reaching new buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see the agility of the company. Today we\u2019re talking about a 755-horsepower Corvette, tomorrow I\u2019m going to talk about autonomous vehicles and electrification in San Francisco with Mary (Barra) and Dan (Amman) to investors,\u201d Reuss says.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the demographic of people who are buying our electrified vehicles, and 85 percent of people coming into our brands and our EVs \u2014 Volt and Bolt \u2014 haven\u2019t shopped GM before. Return buyers of Volt are just about higher than anywhere else. There\u2019s a real good pattern there.\u201d<\/p>\n
This month, GM will sell more EVs than any other automaker in California, a startling metric metric for a Detroit automaker that once struggled to make in-roads on the coast.<\/p>\n
Kelley Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer credits GM\u2019s product turnaround to a Barra-Amman-Reuss executive team \u201cmore aligned in their vision than ever before in GM.\u201d<\/p>\n
He applauds Reuss\u2019 ability to be a passionate car guy and a prudent businessman at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cReuss is the Bob Lutz of a new generation,\u201d says Brauer, referencing the Detroit legend responsible for the Dodge Viper and Volt. \u201cThey are both car guys who have an intrinsic passion that they can translate into successful business models. Reuss can get a ZR1 supercar built but also see the future for Bolt electrification.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result of its more diverse product lineup, \u201cLike Toyota, GM is prepared no matter what the cultural moment,\u201d says Brauer. \u201cNo matter what is \u2018in,\u2019 GM has an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the Corvette will continue to push the limits because it offers a halo for the brand but also inspires GM team members. \u201cA lot of what you see on (the ZR1) \u2014 the materials, the drivetrains \u2014 will make their way into our other cars and trucks. It\u2019s a source of pride (in) the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at the Hulk-like ZR1 \u2014 its muscular tires and V-8 supercharger straining the limits of its front-engine wardrobe \u2014 Reuss is asked whether this is the ZR1\u2019s last hurrah before Chevy introduces a mid-engine Corvette to keep up with other mid-engine hybrid-electric competitors. Mid-engine Corvette mules have been seen in camouflage around Metro Detroit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the fastest C7 you will see,\u201d he says, taking a seat to rest his healing hip. \u201cThat\u2019s all I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Los Angeles\u00a0\u2013 Two weeks before the Chevy Corvette ZR1 supercar was to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, General Motors product chief Mark Reuss had hip surgery. Yet. when the 755-horsepower \u2019Vette debuted before a packed house Tuesday night, there was Reuss, standing on stage and leading the ceremonies. \u201cIf that doesn\u2019t get your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21455"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21455"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21456,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21455\/revisions\/21456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}