New Car Design Time?

Question

How long does it take the average new car to go from initial ideas to production?

Answer 1

I recently spoke to my wife's uncle who has just retired from bmw. He was one of their chief design engineers, and I asked him that very question. He said when he started to work at bmw, it took between 5-7 year to develop a car from concept to production, nowadays with 3d cad programmes such as solid works etc. they have reduced this time to between 2-5 years!, although he says he thinks the quality may be more compromised these days.

Answer 2

The last figure I heard on Ford was 3 years.

GM must take longer, because the new Camaro has been promised next year for four years now.

But GM is always slow, both the products and in their uptakes!

Answer 3

It depends.

When I worked at Daewoo we had a compressed plan that included:

3 months "pre-programme" feasibility and planning,

6 months to develop the design and the engineering package, and compete the product planning,

A further 24 months of engineering development once the package and design were agreed.

This programme required a lot of computer simulation and mule-vehicle testing, with real prototypes only used to verify the computer simulation, and for legal certification.

However, if new engines are required, or the model is significantly different from existing models that it cannot share major concepts and minor components, parts of the engineering programme take longer.

If the directors don't approve of any of the initial design proposals, or the first real crash test doesn't match the computer simulation, these introduce delays.

This also assumes the programme starts at the right time of the year, as hot and cold climate testing can only be carried out in certain months, and have to be competed at the right point in the programme.

A more sophisticated car may take longer to refine, or to ensure all the electronic systems work correctly.