GM definitely had that attitude at some point.[1][2] I think cynicism, infighting, poor incentives[3], and poor attitudes smothered all of that. In addition GM

GM definitely had that attitude at some point.[1][2] I think cynicism, infighting, poor incentives[3], and poor attitudes smothered all of that. In addition GM did a very poor job at improving the things you mention, especially product improvements. Toyota took a look at what GM was doing and trying to do, and then went and executed that vision with a very high level of excellence and urgency that GM was slow to respond to. I do think GM now makes a viable (and in some cases excellent) product. It just took them a very long time to get back to that mentality that they had in the 20s-50s. See also my other comment below. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair... 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRoaPLvQx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRoaPLvQx0 3. https://hbr.org/2014/08/do-your-companys-incentives-reward-bad-behavior/ https://hbr.org/2014/08/do-your-companys-incentives-reward-b... (link not working for me when I posted it.)