Lutz: GM outgrew engineering structure.(Robert Lutz)

Byline: Rick Kranz

This month General Motors created a global committee to revamp the way it develops platforms and produces vehicles for sale around the world. The automaker wants to cut costs by creating global platforms and common parts while at the same time moving engineering and design work to offices that have capacity to handle the work.

Robert Lutz, GM's vice chairman of product development, discussed the changes with Product Editor Rick Kranz at the Geneva auto show this month.

What will be different now that the global committee is in place?

There will no longer be a European engineering budget, an American engineering budget, a …