The line graph compares the average number of hours required to manufacture vehicles in the US by four car companies – General Motor, Ford, Toyota and Honda – between 1998 and 2005.
Overall, the time needed to produce cars generally declined over the period, especially for General Motor and Ford. Japanese manufacturers, Toyota and Honda, consistently required fewer hours than the American companies, and by 2005 all four firms had reached a similar production time of around 20-22 hours per vehicle.
In 1998, General Motor recorded the highest production time at approximately 32 hours per vehicle. This figure fell steadily throughout the period, dropping to about 24 hours in 2003 and finally reaching around 22 hours in 2005. Ford, by contrast, started at 28 hours and rose gradually to a peak of roughly 31 hours in 2001. After that, its production time decreased significantly, ending at just over 21 hours in 2005.
Toyota and Honda showed lower and more stable figures overall. Toyota began at around 22 hours in 1998 and fluctuated slightly over the following years, peaking at nearly 24 hours in 2002 before declining to 20 hours by 2005. Honda followed a similar pattern, falling from 22 hours to 20 in 1999, then increasing to approximately 24 hours in 2002. Afterwards, the figure declined steadily and matched Toyota at around 20 hours in the final year.