Sample Detail

The line graph compares the amount of time taken to produce a single vehicle by four US-based car companies: Nissan, General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, and Ford, between 1998 and 2002. Overall, the figure for Daimler Chrysler ranked first at the end of the period, while that for Nissan stood last. All car manufacturers experienced declines, except for Ford, which increased slightly before declining in the final year. The figures for GM and Nissan fell gradually, with the former accounting for 32 hours in the initial year, then falling by 2 hours annually until 2002, when it reached 24 hours. However, the latter experienced a significant decline from almost 38 hours to 24 hours in the first 2 years before decreasing by nearly 2 hours over the remaining years. Daimler’s figure increased to 33 hours before levelling off between 1999 and 2001, while Ford's remained stable at 25 hours from 1998 to 1999. At the end of the period, Daimler Chrysler recorded 28 hours, whereas Ford stood at 26 hours after increasing gradually between 1999 and 2001