Another not-great day for the auto industry has passed, and its ramifications will echo for some time.  A whole lot of Nissan employees are about to lose their jobs, and one man who became a face of GM is preparing to step down.

We’ll start with the development that might, for lack of details, be quicker to cover.  Because sales are down and so that it can save money, Nissan intends to cut 20,000 jobs, or about 9 percent of its workforce.  Most, but not all, of the cuts will be made in Japan.

Then there’s Bob Lutz to discuss.  This vice chairman and product chief was behind some of GM’s more inspired cars in recent years, including the Cadillac CTS line and Chevrolet Volt.  As those two examples - very fast luxury cars and an electric vehicle - should demonstrate, the longtime employee had kept up with the times in certain ways.

In other departments, though, Lutz wasn’t a modern creature.  Shawn Langlois points out that Lutz “doesn’t hesitate to call global warming a ‘crock of (bleep)’ and fire shots across the bow at rival Toyota Motor Corp.”

Lutz intends to retire at the end of this calendar year.  Seeing how GM gets along without him should be interesting.