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Inside GM: Mystery of Crap Interiors Solved

11 points by replicatorblog 17y ago

tdm911 17y ago
I'm not at all surprised that the GM executives are too tightly wrapped up in their cocoons to drive their own products (with the exception of heavily tweaked versions). Given their inability to recognise the shift in the auto industry over the last 30 years, it's obvious they aren't in touch with reality. I think the article has a good message for developers, especially that the old rule of 'Eat your own dog food' is of utmost importance. If you don't use your product, how can you know what your customers experience is like?
- prodigal_erik 17y ago
  Also "you get what you measure". They should have tried to find out how good a car of that model would typically be, rather than how good a rigged demo of it could possibly be.
- kaitnieks 17y ago
  This is complete opposite of what I saw in Germany in Wolfsburg where VW plants are located. We were practically the only ones not driving VW there with exception of few Audis. I think in car industry there are more benefits for using your own product than just being your own tester. It's also advertising (even such VW hater as me could not shake off a feeling that it has to be a good car after seeing a whole city is FULL of them) and increased product volume.
  - protomyth 17y ago
    I get the feeling that the folks at VW don't maintain or pay for repairs of their vehicles. A bunch of former co-workers of mine had Beetles and Jettas and the price of maintenance / repairs was obscene. The broken door handle and the non-customer replaceable $300+ headlight swore me off buying the diesel Jetta I wanted.
deleted 17y ago
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jballanc 17y ago
I don't think it's that unusual that the executives would only be presented with the best sample for demonstration. You have to remember that each car represents the hard work of many people, and I know that if I was the last person in that chain responsible for preparing the demo model for the CEO, I'd certainly take the time to make sure everything was perfect! In fact, I think the author buried the lead in the last paragraph. I've never been turned off of a car because of a loose fitting joint on the dash, or a persistent rattle (my current car has both). Rather, the real problem is that they've removed the human element from the design process. I can't find the exact quote at the moment, but I recall Jonathan Ive once said something to the effect that he could pin-point when each car manufacturer moved from clay model prototypes to CAD design, because that's precisely when the cars lost their "soul".
quizbiz 17y ago
Am I the only one that thinks executives should focus on making their company more efficient? Making calls from the back of a car is fine with me. Leave the test drives to people that know what to look for, media people, car enthusiasts, passionate buyers.
- protomyth 17y ago
  I pretty much agree with you. A trained Evaluation Team would have been a better use of resources, especially if they had the ability to send changes to design / manufacturing and could make sure a bad design is not produced.

I'm not at all surprised that the GM executives are too tightly wrapped up in their cocoons to drive their own products (with the exception of heavily tweaked versions). Given their inability to recognise the shift in the auto industry over the last 30 years, it's obvious they aren't in touch with reality. I think the article has a good message for developers, especially that the old rule of 'Eat your own dog food' is of utmost importance. If you don't use your product, how can you know what your customers experience is like?

prodigal_erik 17y ago
Also "you get what you measure". They should have tried to find out how good a car of that model would typically be, rather than how good a rigged demo of it could possibly be.
kaitnieks 17y ago
This is complete opposite of what I saw in Germany in Wolfsburg where VW plants are located. We were practically the only ones not driving VW there with exception of few Audis. I think in car industry there are more benefits for using your own product than just being your own tester. It's also advertising (even such VW hater as me could not shake off a feeling that it has to be a good car after seeing a whole city is FULL of them) and increased product volume.
- protomyth 17y ago
  I get the feeling that the folks at VW don't maintain or pay for repairs of their vehicles. A bunch of former co-workers of mine had Beetles and Jettas and the price of maintenance / repairs was obscene. The broken door handle and the non-customer replaceable $300+ headlight swore me off buying the diesel Jetta I wanted.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

jballanc 17y ago

I don't think it's that unusual that the executives would only be presented with the best sample for demonstration. You have to remember that each car represents the hard work of many people, and I know that if I was the last person in that chain responsible for preparing the demo model for the CEO, I'd certainly take the time to make sure everything was perfect! In fact, I think the author buried the lead in the last paragraph. I've never been turned off of a car because of a loose fitting joint on the dash, or a persistent rattle (my current car has both). Rather, the real problem is that they've removed the human element from the design process. I can't find the exact quote at the moment, but I recall Jonathan Ive once said something to the effect that he could pin-point when each car manufacturer moved from clay model prototypes to CAD design, because that's precisely when the cars lost their "soul".

quizbiz 17y ago

Am I the only one that thinks executives should focus on making their company more efficient? Making calls from the back of a car is fine with me. Leave the test drives to people that know what to look for, media people, car enthusiasts, passionate buyers.

protomyth 17y ago
I pretty much agree with you. A trained Evaluation Team would have been a better use of resources, especially if they had the ability to send changes to design / manufacturing and could make sure a bad design is not produced.