Cadillac pulled the harsh lines for the rear end and tail lights out of history.
They were negative for cost
They were negative for fuel economy.
Someone thought they looked cool.
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Some workshops happen for how displays look, yet is usually comes down to what the Interior chief likes. And if they other vehicle that looks a lot alike yet has a different brand chief for interior the displays could look totally different for no rim or reason other than to be different sometimes.
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Did you know in the early 90's there were over 78 specific designs for radiator caps and it was over 120 for windshield wiper fluid caps.
They dropped brand logos.
they standardized to the icons.
They created a standard opening even if the bottle or cooling was different size or shape.
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So give people a chance and they will create something different.
Sometimes because they think it si cool.
Many times to justify why the company is paying them money.
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In the late 90's we rolled out a new Electronic PRNDL Display.
It was across Three or more brands and multiple vehicle lines in three plants.
The First vehicle that changed the first year one Plant Manager thought it was cool to be quicker and newer.
One was not so sure, why he didn't like and they last hated.
We had arguments and I was ordered to change it when it was intrinsic to the new communication protocol being used.
I told them no. We had meetings with my management, and we got to some senior level executives and they told it was too late to change.
Just live with it.
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The next year when when another changed for mid cycle updates, the plant the loved had a new plant manager and the new one hated the fast ones.
The one that was indifferent loved them all. Including the slower one.
The one that hated the faster wanted them all changed to be the same , and was now complaining about the slow one.
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Note the message speed were 250 ms for slow and 100 ms for the faster.
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I had a change required by law for emissions and was sitting on the phone for the review board, and listened to an hour or so past my time slot about changes for color and fit and finish, and when they got to me they did not want to discuss changing the SW and Calibrations which would be required to meet emission certification to sell the vehicles. There had been a previous update sent to the plant for some similar changes in a different area. They had ignored that.
So I put in a Stop Build, Stop Ship and Stop Sell , and shut the plant down.
Why? Because people were being arbitrary .
They could not smell, touch, or taste the SW and calibration changes so it was hard for them to understand even when it was their job.
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So yes sometimes it is just because someone wanted it that way.