Nissan

"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."

"In fact, the period of greatest Japanese success was the following decade. During the 1980s, for example, General Motors’ US market share went from 52% to around 30%, with most of this lost to the Japanese. What happened? Ask anyone who bought a Honda, Toyota, or Datsun (as Nissan products were known until 1984) back then. They came expecting to get great gas mileage, which they did, but, “Surprise!” The things ran like a Swiss watch, fit together like a Rolls Royce, and seemed to last forever. In the language of strategy, the Japanese engaged with the expected (cheng)—gas mileage—but won with the unexpected (ch’i): fit and finish, driveability, longevity. Contrast this with GM’s economy offerings of the period, the Vega and Chevette. Their gas mileage was as good as the Japanese, but in all other aspects, they were pretty ordinary. All cheng; no ch’i. Market share cut by 40%."