It Was All Planned by General Motors: Why Modern Cars Are More Complex, but Not Necessarily Worse Than Older Ones

Until fairly recently, a car could be repaired in a garage with only a minimal set of tools at hand. It was enough to open the hood, and it immediately became clear where the carburetor was, where the distributor was, and how everything worked.

Today, under the hood there is plastic and electronics. And the point is not that engineers have forgotten how to make simple cars.

The reason runs much deeper.

The Man Who Changed the Industry

The turning point came as early as 1923, when Alfred P. Sloan took over General Motors.

At that moment, the market was effectively controlled by Henry Ford with his Ford Model T, a simple, reliable car designed for long service life.

Ford proceeded from engineering logic: a car had to be affordable and durable.

Sloan reasoned differently.

The Birth of Planned Obsolescence

In 1927, General Motors introduced the principle that would later be called "planned obsolescence".

The idea was simple: update models regularly, change the appearance, add new features, and encourage buyers to replace their cars more often. At the same time, earlier cars did not become worse — there was simply a reason to buy a new one.

Sloan himself stated the priorities directly: the company exists for profit.

This strategy proved extremely effective. By the 1930s, GM had become the largest automaker in the world, and Sloan's approach was quickly adopted by competitors.

When Design Became More Important Than Engineering

The next step came in the 1920s, when GM invited Harley Earl.

Before that, cars had been created by engineers focused on functionality. Earl, however, placed emphasis on appearance and emotional appeal.

From that moment on, the car ceased to be an exclusively technical product. It turned into an object that had to do more than just work — it also had to sell.

Were Old Cars Really More Reliable?

The common belief in the "eternal" cars of the past does not fully match the facts.

In the 1970s, the average service life of a car was about 8 years or 100,000 km. Under modern conditions, this figure has grown to 16.6 years and approximately 250,000 km.

Yes, models such as the Mercedes-Benz W123 and Mercedes-Benz W124 were indeed highly reliable. However, this was explained by an excessive safety margin and by the fact that engineering decisions still dominated over marketing at the time.

At the same time, even in that era, automakers were already actively updating their model ranges.

Thus, nostalgia is connected not only with reliability, but also with simplicity of design.

The Increasing Complexity of Cars

Since the 1980s, cars have begun to grow rapidly more complex. They acquired:

The growth in technology improved safety and comfort, but at the same time made repairs more dependent on specialized equipment.

Whereas before an owner could fix many faults independently, diagnostics now require scanners and software.

At the same time, about 39% of modern cars encounter one problem or another during the year, and among cars less than five years old this figure is about 31%.

The Chinese Stage of Development

The modern stage is characterized by accelerated development, especially in China.

Companies such as BYD, Geely, NIO, and XPeng bring out new models in 22–28 months, while traditional manufacturers spend 36–48 months on this.

The use of modular platforms makes it possible to quickly create several models based on the same components.

In addition, cars receive regular OTA updates: in 2024 alone, about 11 million vehicles in China received them.

A car is increasingly resembling an electronic device that becomes obsolete much faster morally than it physically wears out.

Conspiracy or Business Model?

The idea of collusion among manufacturers sounds popular, but the facts point to something else.

According to estimates by Oliver Wyman, about 3,000 components in each car model become obsolete every year. This is related to technological development, not a secret conspiracy.

At the same time, automakers do indeed seek to control the repair market by restricting access to data and technology.

An additional aspect is the economic impracticality of restoring some modern cars, especially electric vehicles, which after damage are often declared beyond repair.

Reliability: Myths and Reality

Statistics show that cars have become more durable:

Reliability levels also differ by region:

Among the long-lived models, the standouts are:

In Russia, according to Fit Service data for 2025, the lowest share of breakdowns was recorded for Skoda, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota.

Simple cars did not disappear on their own — they were displaced by a new market logic.

Since the introduction of Sloan's strategy, the car has ceased to be exclusively a tool. It has become a product that needs to be updated regularly.

Modern cars have indeed become:

But at the same time they have become more complex, and therefore less accessible for self-repair.

In effect, a trade-off has occurred: simplicity gave way to functionality.

And now a car is no longer just a mechanism, but a complex system whose life cycle is determined not only by the wear of parts, but also by the speed of technological change.

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