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I've read somewhere that BMW and Audi have internal regulations in place, which dictate that at least half of the top level leadership group should always consi

by elb2020 5y ago

I've read somewhere that BMW and Audi have internal regulations in place, which dictate that at least half of the top level leadership group should always consist of people with engineering backgrounds. I have not been able to confirm if it's true or not. But it sounds as a healthy regulation to have in place for a technical company, since gravity seems to work in the opposite direction. Non-technical leaders will, in my experience, have a tendency towards hiring other non-technical leaders, and towards trying to mould the company operations into something which can be run without the need for technical knowledge.

kqr 5y ago
And Toyota has (had?) the requirement that all employees, no matter how privileged, should regularly spend time on the factory floor doing the core business of the company: assembling cars. I think that sort of idea makes a lot of sense to avoid losing touch.
- mnadkvlb 5y ago
  and their cars interior is by far the worst for price range. Infotainment is so bad that sometimes the touch response happens like 4-5 seconds later on a four year old corolla hybrid. Worst interior in a car i experienced
  - the_gipsy 5y ago
    Anecdata aside, they are one of (if not THE) most reliable car brands
    - mnadkvlb 5y ago
      i agree with reliability. Just the rest of stuff is so bad, i mean for a car worth 25-30k i expect a touchscreen that is not absolute lemon from the start. Or just give me an api over network/bus that someone can create an app for it and i can just run a tablet which would be a total of say (300 bucks for a decent tablet, 100 bucks for the app ). Not a fan of teslas at all, but i hope they put the direction of industry to have a decent infotainment as default. Korean/German cars seem to have a bit better infotainment.
      - bigiain 5y ago
        > just give me an api over network/bus that someone can create an app for it Be careful what you ask for… I got a _very_ stern talking to by legal a long time back (~2013), when I demonstrated to my boss that using the Toyota telematics and some knowledge of specific vehicles, I could locate 2 of the fleet Prius we used. I’m reasonably sure I could have popped the door locks on them too with a little more work. I was just “playing” with some api docs I found in the company wiki. Legal and the CTO made it very clear to me that I’d never found those docs, I’d never written any code to use those APIs, I’d never connected to any Toyota never mind one I didn’t own personally, I’d certainly never tried exploiting those APIs, and I knew _nothing_. I hope (perhaps in vain) that things are better than they were 7-8 years ago (and that 7-8 years and the company who’s NDA I was covered by company going into receivership is long enough to tell some of the story…)
        mnadkvlb 5y ago
        That would be fun, i know its hard to trust car manufacturers with software, but one can alwys wish. I just wish if some company create an android/ios app, it would be definitely easier to create than working on some random hardware found in car infotainment for which its hard to find developers. Now any tablet can be my infotainment. I only need navigation and music to be integrated in app. No other features what so ever. Basically what volkswagen e-up / skoda e-citigo has done.

kqr 5y ago

And Toyota has (had?) the requirement that all employees, no matter how privileged, should regularly spend time on the factory floor doing the core business of the company: assembling cars. I think that sort of idea makes a lot of sense to avoid losing touch.

mnadkvlb 5y ago
and their cars interior is by far the worst for price range. Infotainment is so bad that sometimes the touch response happens like 4-5 seconds later on a four year old corolla hybrid. Worst interior in a car i experienced
- the_gipsy 5y ago
  Anecdata aside, they are one of (if not THE) most reliable car brands
  - mnadkvlb 5y ago
    i agree with reliability. Just the rest of stuff is so bad, i mean for a car worth 25-30k i expect a touchscreen that is not absolute lemon from the start. Or just give me an api over network/bus that someone can create an app for it and i can just run a tablet which would be a total of say (300 bucks for a decent tablet, 100 bucks for the app ). Not a fan of teslas at all, but i hope they put the direction of industry to have a decent infotainment as default. Korean/German cars seem to have a bit better infotainment.
    - bigiain 5y ago
      > just give me an api over network/bus that someone can create an app for it Be careful what you ask for… I got a _very_ stern talking to by legal a long time back (~2013), when I demonstrated to my boss that using the Toyota telematics and some knowledge of specific vehicles, I could locate 2 of the fleet Prius we used. I’m reasonably sure I could have popped the door locks on them too with a little more work. I was just “playing” with some api docs I found in the company wiki. Legal and the CTO made it very clear to me that I’d never found those docs, I’d never written any code to use those APIs, I’d never connected to any Toyota never mind one I didn’t own personally, I’d certainly never tried exploiting those APIs, and I knew _nothing_. I hope (perhaps in vain) that things are better than they were 7-8 years ago (and that 7-8 years and the company who’s NDA I was covered by company going into receivership is long enough to tell some of the story…)
      - mnadkvlb 5y ago
        That would be fun, i know its hard to trust car manufacturers with software, but one can alwys wish. I just wish if some company create an android/ios app, it would be definitely easier to create than working on some random hardware found in car infotainment for which its hard to find developers. Now any tablet can be my infotainment. I only need navigation and music to be integrated in app. No other features what so ever. Basically what volkswagen e-up / skoda e-citigo has done.