Friday, January 24, 1992 ~ North Shore News ~ 25

PS MOUNT VIEW = age JEEP EAGLELTD. . Bhi

1600 MARINE Dav NORTH VANCOUVEH, BC. V7P 179

That's us. We're right in your neighbourhood. And because we see your car year round, we know what's best. Even the best exhaust systems.

That's Mopar. The best money can buy. Built to last.

@ . he rovin ro und S aus ee pore for domestic or import cars, i ; light trucks or vans.

Stop in soon ... at the sign of the expert.

Competitive assessment is serious business | Bly $4QQ00 ee.

I HOPE I’m not going to get into trouble by writing this article. Although the information I’m going to expose is not confidential, it certainly may be considered ‘‘hush- hush.’’ People directiy involved in the auto industry know that this ‘“‘hidden’’ activity is done by all the automotive manufacturers, but the process is usually not openly revealed.

every car company thoroughly, and ex-

haustively checks, tests, and

evaluates their competitors’ cars.

The cars are evaluated by techni-

cians and engineers on both public

roads and a proving ground (test

track). Even the high-ranking

automobile executives sometimes

get caught stepping out of a car

that is manufactured by their

direct competitors. This activity is

loosely referred to as ‘‘competitive

assessment.”’ Automakers spend a

significant amount. of effort ana-

lyzing each other’s cars so that

they wen’t be left behind in a

fiercely paced automotive market.

In my last column, I explained

that engineers make the most out

of the auto shows by performing

“static reviews’? on various cars

displayed. But they can only do so

much in public auto shows — they engineer was caught taking an

certainly cannot start taking the upholstery sample!).

cars apart (although there has So what do the automakers do

been an incident where an when they want to really check

This week’ s i SPECIAL —

MATIC TRANSMISSION VICE & INSPECTION

Ewe will...

_© Test transmission © Replace tansmission performance iroadtest! = gasket fe ° Replace transmission ——_« Replace transmission oil

Q -¢ Clean & inspect trans. pan * Adjust inkage as nec.

8 Expires January 31, 1992 plus parts . fo & taK-

The expert choice. | EXTENDED HOURS OF SERVICE RECEPTION Mon-Thurs. 7:30am Fri. & Sat. 7:30am-6:00pml

every inch of the car? Well, every ; + taxes car manufacturer takes a slightly Free brake inspection included.

different apprcach, but many simply buy competitors’ cars. Some rent them, and others even exchange cars with each other. Drive by any of the automakers’ engineering centres, and chances are you will catch a glimpse of competitors’ cars parked behind a testing facility. Manufacturers often buy over a hundred com-

See Ford page 28

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