Baking potatoes the automotive industry way:

How a Honda employee bakes a potato:

Preheat new, high-quality oven to 350 F. Insert Idaho
potato. Go do something productive for 45 minutes. Check for
doneness, and then Remove perfectly baked potato from oven and serve.

How a GM employee bakes a potato:

Instruct an Idaho potato supplier to preheat the oven to 350 F.
Demand that the supplier show you how he turned the dial to reach
350F, and have him come up with documentation from the oven
manufacturer proving that it was calibrated properly. Review
documentation, and then have supplier check the temperature using
sophisticated temperature probe. Direct supplier to insert potato and
set timer for 45 minutes. Have supplier open oven to prove potato has
been installed correctly, and request a free study proving that 45
minutes is the ideal time to bake a potato of this size.

Check potato for doneness after 10 minutes. Check potato for doneness
after 11 minutes. Check potato for doneness after 12 minutes.

Become impatient with supplier (why is this simple potato taking so
long to bake?). Demand status reports every five minutes. Check
potato for doneness after 15 minutes...
After 35 minutes, conclude that potato is nearing completion.
Congratulate supplier, and then update your boss on all the great
work you've done, despite having to work with such an uncooperative
supplier. Remove potato from oven after 40 minutes of baking, as a
cost savings; without loss of function or quality versus the original
45 minute baking time. Serve potato.

Wonder aloud what on earth those Japanese folks are doing over there
to make such good low-cost baked potatoes that people seem to like
better than GM potatoes.

Daimler Chrysler's Baked Potatoes:

Design great looking potato. Include sour cream, bacon
bits, chives, and cheese. Bean counters then create MCM
system. Engineers spend 2 years looking for ways to take out sour
cream, bacon bits, chives, and cheese. Engineers find cheap imitation
chives from Japanese supplier.
Management commands engineers to use expensive, over-engineered
German bacon bits to help prop up weak
German suppliers. Sell potato with cheap imitation chives, no sour
cream, cheese or expensive German bacon bits.
Potato rots so fast customer swears never to buy another DCX potato.

Ford's Baked Potatoes:

Engineers create plain looking, "everyman" potato. Sold as "green"
alternative to French Fries. When micro waved, potato explodes,
causing death and injury to customers and bringing end to 100-year
potato and butter-supplier relationship, Lawyers flourish. Repair
instruction simply state "replace with known good potato." :)

You forgot that the GM guy would have to submit the first 2 for warranty insection, and wait for a Technical assistance person to determine if the baking procedure is correct. Then you would still have to have the GM parts division make sure the potatoes are to spec. Once GM got the procedure down, they would then create a "crate potato" and it would come complete with previously mentioned accessory condiments. There would also be different sizes ranging from a nw/baby potato up to the big steakhouse bakers. The following year, they would introduce a butter-injected version.

The following year, they would introduce a butter-injected version.

Next GM would cancel all the baked potato advertising because a brother division that was making baked yams complained to the ceo that the baked potatoes were cutting into the baked yam sales. Seems the baked potatoes were as good as the baked yams and cost half as much. After several years of no advertising, the baked potatoes were discontinued, because according to the ceo "no one wanted to buy them".

It is rumoured that the baked potatoes will be back in production in 2009.