New York (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors on Wednesday announced that its vice chairman will retire on May 1.
Bob Lutz will step down in two months, ending a 47-year career in the auto industry that included tours of duty at BMW, Chrysler and Ford. He began his career at GM, working there from 1963 to 1971, then rejoined the company in 2001.
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| Bob Lutz |
For most of the past nine years, the 78-year old was GM's head of product development, with a brief detour into helming the Detroit giant's marketing. As the company's product visionary, Lutz helped create successful new vehicles such as the Chevrolet Malibu, Buick Enclave, Cadillac CTS and the Chevrolet Equinox. He also at spearheaded development of the Chevrolet Volt electric car.
"I can confidently say that the job I came here to do more than nine years ago is now complete," Lutz said in a prepared statement. "Our product lineup is as strong as it has been in GM's history."
While at Chrysler, Lutz led the development of products like the PT Cruiser and the Dodge Viper performance car. He has been a longtime proponent of the idea that cars must be, first and foremost, emotionally appealing.
Lutz tried once before to retire from GM (GM, Fortune 500). Shortly before the government took control of the company last year, he made plans to depart, but reversed his stance a few months later.
-CNNMoney.com senior writer Peter Valdes-Dapena contributed to this report. 
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