<VV> GM into "Drag" Racing? - absolutely No Corvair - but funny!

[Sethracer at aol.com]

>From some Auto Industry Blog: 
(http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?DID=RSS&n=189&sid=189&article=13211) 
 
During the development of General Motors' new GMT900 SUVs, the team in  
charge of design was taken out to the company's Milford Proving Grounds and made  
to dress in drag as an exercise. They wore high-heels, fake press-on nails and  
garbage bag skirts to simulate what The Car Connection refers to as "female  
handicaps" (are we really calling them that?) while operating various features 
 of their new 'utes. The result was at least three features on GM's new SUVs 
that  wouldn't have been there otherwise: retractable running boards for 
easier  entry/exit in a skirt, a larger center console that can hold a purse and an 
 easier to operate rear lift gate.

The idea for this excursion into  androgyny came from Mary Sipes, a vehicle 
line director at GM and a woman with a  mission to make her company's vehicles 
more user friendly for females. Since  women comprise more than 50-percent of 
the buying public, she realized it would  only help the company's bottom line 
to consider them more when designing new  vehicles. Since the design teams are 
still very male dominated, Sipes decided to  dress her teams in drag to force 
them to consider their vehicles from a female  perspective. Hmmm... perhaps a 
better solution than playing dress up would be to  just hire more women. 
Regardless, the intent was commendable, but we're  wondering if our female readers 
can think of any other missing features that  might make their lives a little 
easier.




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