Innovation, just because it does not occur where you think it should does not mean the traditional automakers are not constantly innovation. It is the reliance on many suppliers that allows for innovation to move ahead quickly. All this work towards self driving cars came from developments made by the industry in making safer cars, from ABS to traction control to self aiming lights to airbags.
Electrification, the odd thing here is that Tesla kept a 12v system when many have been trying to move all cars to 48v. I think the author is too quick to dismiss the big companies, look how fast GM turned up with the 200 mile range Bolt which should debut before Tesla's III, let alone probably reach higher production numbers
Software, the author seems wholly tied up in interfaces. Why do many cars have all these dials? Assurance for the most part and a lot of tradition. Plus they aren't distracting, they are causal glance information sources whereas pretty screens and graphics likely will be distracting.
Oh, as for quoting Lutz, while he may not be your cup of tea the guy knows the current industry and how it all works. He does come off like a politician at times and keeps his name in the press by being loud