Japanese Cars

Introduction

Japanese cars dominated all 10 categories of the U.S. Consumer Reports magazine's Top Picks list for 2006, the first time since the list was introduced in 1997. Honda Motor Co. vehicles dominated five of the 10 categories. The Civic, which was totally remodeled last year, was named the best small sedan, while the Ridgeline was named the top pickup truck and the Odyssey named the top minivan. Two Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles entered the list, including the hybrid Prius, which has remained the most environmentally friendly green car for the third year in a row. Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti M35 was named the top choice in the upscale sedan, while two Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. vehicles, including the Subaru Forester, were named top picks.

The picks were chosen from more than 200 vehicles recently tested by the magazine. They scored at or near the top among competing vehicles in its reliability, fuel efficiency, overall crash protection and other features. The 10 vehicles on Consumer Reports' top picks list are standouts across the board for performance, versatility, reliability, safety, and interior fit and finish (Kuttner p.24).

Project Outline

A Model of Product Development

The unit of analysis in this study is the product development project. New products may simply be those incorporating minor changes to established designs (for example, a washing machine with an almond cabinet instead of a white one), or they may use new technology to create new markets (the Xerox 914 copier). This study examines new models of an established product in a market in which the firm already competes. But the models may represent an attempt to define a new niche within that market and may involve innovation in components and systems (Scherer: 110).

Product development of this kind is not research; there is no theoretical question to ...