The line graph compares the number of hours taken to manufacture a vehicle by four US-based car manufacturers—Nissan, Daimler Chrysler (DC), General Motors (GM), and Ford—over the period from 1998 to 2002.
Overall, all manufacturers except Ford showed a reduction in production time, with Nissan achieving the most significant decrease. Ford, on the other hand, experienced a slight increase.
In 1998, Nissan had the highest production time, requiring around 37 hours per vehicle. However, this figure dropped sharply to approximately 21 hours by 2002, making it the most efficient manufacturer by the end of the period. DC started at 34 hours, fluctuated slightly around 32 hours until 2001, and then declined to 28 hours in 2002.
General Motors began at 32 hours and saw a gradual but consistent drop, finishing at about 25 hours. In contrast, Ford started with the shortest time in 1998 at 25 hours, but the figure rose to around 27 hours in 2001 before falling back to 25 hours in the final year.
