Ed Wilburn Defends GM Design From HuffPO Attack

So what do you do if you happen to be Global Vice President of General Motors Design and a blogger calls your company out for lacking a modern sense of design? Well, if your name happens to be Ed Welburn, you respond with an open letter of your own.

After Huffington Post writer Gerald Sindell wrote an open letter to new GM CEO Fritz Henderson suggesting that a new design direction should be Job 1 for the reinvention of GM, Welburn felt compelled to respond. As you might imagine, the response is a rather passionate one. So what did Welburn have to say to Sindell?


Believe me, Ed is a much better man than me. I would have opened a can for sure.

"Older white guys wearing suits to the office in Detroit, except for one woman and one black guy."
That "one black guy" happens to be Mr. Welburn, who in his response suggests that Sindell might be a little out of touch

What an amazing statement to have be said in a public forum.


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100tnega - 6/10/2009 6:49:18 PM

+3 Boost

Everyone's an expert.

inspirion7 - 6/10/2009 8:53:20 PM

+1 Boost

"What an amazing statement to have be said in a public forum. "

Boy that statement above must have been written by Jar Jar Binks. Sorry for the typo.

tango - 6/10/2009 8:00:12 PM

+2 Boost

The quick thing to do is jump on one side of this argument or the other. I say, both articles...ehem...letters work/worked to the greater good of GM. If Sindell had not written this article then Welburn would perhaps never had given him (and subsequently the reading public) the opportunity to see what is really going on. Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you (Luke 11:9). Both make for excellent reading. I'm eager to see the new GM logo myself. I fancy myself as an amateur graphic artist and would love the opportunity to submit some renderings!

thstone - 6/11/2009 4:04:58 PM

0 Boost

Welburn says: "I mention three recent examples of well-received GM designs and wonder openly if perhaps you have experienced them, especially their interiors. I challenge you to visit a GM dealer and sit in the Chevrolet Malibu or Camaro, Cadillac CTS or SRX, or the Buick LaCrosse before you question our commitment to design and quality."

Done that. My take:

Camaro - yes
Malibu - no
CTS - yes
SRX - no
LaCrosse - no

I'd give Welburn a C-.