Nesbitt: "Making engineering and design work together"

[1957wildcat]

A Q&A with Bryan Nesbitt, V-P of Design, GMNA, "Making engineering and design work together," was published by the Boston Globe on December 30, 2007.

For me being a Buick fan, he states that right now, he's driving, among others, a "next-generation Enclave."

Here is a link to the entire article
http://www.boston.com/business/globe...work_together/

[Mr. Burns]

"Bryan Nesbitt was born in Phoenix, Arizona on January 24, 1969. He studied Architecture and Industrial Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a Bachelor's Degree with Honors in Transportation Design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Nesbitt

excellent.

It's a shame though that design for the last couple of decades has taken a back seat to engineering. I guess when toyonda landed with their boring yet for the most part well engineered products, design lost importance.

[1957wildcat]

Thank you for adding that biographical information which helps us to appreciate Mr. Nesbitt.

[Bravada]

Thank you Bryan Nesbitt, you can take your round Envoy vents back. Where ar't thou, Wayne Cherry?

[I-Love-Pontiac]

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of his answers have nothing to do with the question?

[ColinOpseth]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of his answers have nothing to do with the question?

I'll answer your question with another....Isn't spin the lifeblood of the industry?

[FierySolstice]

I loved this question:
Q. Do you think the days of rebadging - spiffing up a Chevy and calling it a Cadillac - are gone? I understand cars can share underpinnings and components.
A. If we want to cover the market and we've created different brands to cover that market, then we certainly ought to be targeting different customers. We've learned the hard way in a couple of examples.

Full knowing that the Alpha platform will be used for a small Cadillac and a Chevy! Shouldn't Pontiac be the brand with the usage of the RWD platform? It just doesn't make sense! Pontiac's going to die..

[minnfang]

Is there any chance that the next gen Escalade will be on Lambda? He did mention it in the same sentence as the next gen Enclave and Acadia.

I'm not pushing for it, but Lambda would work just fine for a next gen blingmobile. If anyone really needed to tow big stuff, they could buy a Yukon Denali.

[caddycruiser]

This is pretty interesting:

Q. What kind of car do you drive?
A. I had a Saab 9-3 Aero for the summer. I test drive a lot of the stuff we're dealing, and right now we're kind of in the 2012 time frame, so now I'm driving next-generation Enclave, next-gen Acadia, next-gen Escalade.

I'm guessing Enclave Super, Acadia Denali, and Escalade Platinum...or something else beyond those, in the "play with" stage now.

[GM-Joe]

I really like the fact that they are already working on the next-generation now, instead of when sales begin to stall. They already have a redo inline for 2012 for the Lambda's; that is what you have to do if you want to be the best!

[Jnielo]

Too bad his neighbors don't take advantage of these new vehicles and snap some spy photos for some $$$ (And our excitement).

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of his answers have nothing to do with the question?

Yah, I've noticed much of GM's top talent isn't super articulate-ever hear Ed Welburn in a public forum? I don't think I much care, though; much of their work is nothing short of brilliant! Of course, everyone has a bad car or two. Lucerne, Bryan? Come on, you're more talented than that.

Originally Posted by GM-Joe

I really like the fact that they are already working on the next-generation now, instead of when sales begin to stall. They already have a redo inline for 2012 for the Lambda's; that is what you have to do if you want to be the best!

As they should be. I was hoping that when he said next generation Enclave, Acadia and Escalade he was talking more next generation than what caddycruiser seemed to have referenced: newer trim levels of existing vehicles. With GM, there's a 50:50 chance of caddycruiser being right. If we have to wait till 2012 for the Enclave Super, and if it comes in the same general duds as the 2008, I think there'd be cause for concern. The Enclave's gorgeous now, but I don't think it'll be gorgeous forever.

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by GM-Joe

I really like the fact that they are already working on the next-generation now, instead of when sales begin to stall. They already have a redo inline for 2012 for the Lambda's; that is what you have to do if you want to be the best!

2007 - 2012 would make for a standard 4/5 year product cycle, so I think that's nothing out of the ordinary. But you're right, they could have pulled a Tahoe/Trailblazer/Silverado sort of development lag.

[mgescuro]

Originally Posted by FierySolstice

I loved this question:
Q. Do you think the days of rebadging - spiffing up a Chevy and calling it a Cadillac - are gone? I understand cars can share underpinnings and components.
A. If we want to cover the market and we've created different brands to cover that market, then we certainly ought to be targeting different customers. We've learned the hard way in a couple of examples.

Full knowing that the Alpha platform will be used for a small Cadillac and a Chevy! Shouldn't Pontiac be the brand with the usage of the RWD platform? It just doesn't make sense! Pontiac's going to die..

Yeah.... He didn't even answer the damn question.

[351E]

Whatever, Bryan. GM's doing more pleasing design these days, as in less gaudy. But I can't really think of one production vehicle that's setting (or even trying to set) a new trend, raising the bar for other automakers to follow. All the new releases look like great 2004 efforts. And that's not a terrible thing ... but when you've got umpteen brands to work with and can't go off on a limb with even one, then you're not confident in what you're doing.

GM's not leading the industry in design anymore. Nesbitt and Welburn try to carry the swagger of the Earls and Mitchells, but I don't see any relevant comparison other than title.