At Nissan and Toyota, project managers for new models enjoy total control over the car’s design and engineering. Senior managers, even the president of the corporation, are forbidden from interfering, once they have approved the project. As long ago as 1989, Nissan developed the Maxima in 30 months, roughly half the US industry’s average at the time and well below it even today, with such quality that the year it was introduced, it topped the J. D. Power initial quality survey.
