Dull at Any Speed

washingtonpost.com > Print Edition > Sunday Outlook Dull at Any Speed: GM Never Learned to Shift Gears
By Maryann N. Keller Sunday, June 12, 2005; Page B01
In a Detroit suburb in the late 1980s, General Motors established a large technical facility it called the Mona Lisa center, where its engineers disassembled Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys in a desperate search for the secret of their Japanese competitors' success. They analyzed the smallest pieces trying to figure out the best attributes to include in future GM models. The reasons for GM's decline could have been found there on the floor of the Mona Lisa center, but not among the parts. It was the whole approach. Taking apart existing cars is a backward-looking exercise; it doesn't tell you what's going to sell four or five years down the road. So while GM was staring in its rearview mirror, its competitors were zipping ahead."

Maryann it sounds like you did find the right problem. Reverse engineering is for those who want to build something from scratch not for thsoe who are already producing something. GM should have tried to find out what will make their car sell.

As a consumer I can tell what average consumer says when it comes buying to a car.
1. Their car consumes more gas
2. The transmission dies out at less than 100,000 miles while Japanese on average last more than 200,000 miles.
3. GM cars may give you more comfort inside but how much time do we spend in our car on an average work day?