
Strategic Development of New JIT ◾ 151
7.1. 5.4 Studies on Customers’ Design Preferences
for Vehicle Appearance (Step 2)
It is a well-known fact that the design of vehicle appearance has considerable weight
in the customer’s decision to make a purchase. Which part of vehicle appearance
design do customers, domestic and overseas (regardless of age and sex), pay atten-
tion to? Professional automotive prole designers have a theory (rule of thumb)
that, in general, Japanese customers tend to focus on the front design while North
American customers look at the overall design of front, side, and rear. Our chal-
lenge here is to give an objective a