The line graph below compares four car manufacturers, named General Motor, Ford, Toyota, Honda in terms of the average hours to produce vehicles at their factories in the US from 1998 to 2005. It is clear that the numbers of cars produced per hour in Ford and General Motor factories are higher than that in Toyota and Honda factories over the period. In addition, while the figure in General Motor’s factories fell significantly, the others witnessed a fluctuation during time recorded.
Regarding the data of General Motor and Ford, it can be seen that there was an opposite trend between 1998 and 2001. The time to produce a Ford car increased quickly during 3 years and reached the peak in 2001 at about 31 hours, while that in General Motor factories dropped dramatically from 32 hours in 1998 to around 27 hours in 2001. From 2001 onward, both data declined, but the figure for Ford overall was still higher than the figure for General Motor.
Concerning the data of Toyota and Honda, from 1998 to 2001, the average hours to produce a Toyota and a Honda vehicle fluctuated in an opposite direction. Period from 2001 to 2002 marked the time when Toyota and Honda experienced an equal production time and and all attained their highest point at 24 hours in 2002. From 2002 onward, they decreased until they met again in 2005, at 20 hours.
