THE ISSUE IN AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION IS THE TIME FRAME TO STYLE, DESIGN, ANALYZE, MANUFACTURE, AND ASSEMBLY. TRADITIONAL METHODS REQUIRE PRODUCTION QUALITY COMPUTER SURFACE DESIGNS FOR EACH SUCCESSIVE PROCESS TO BEGIN IN EARNEST. THEREFORE, THEY ARE SERIALLY BASED ON A SLOW PAINSTAKING EFFORT THAT IS DIFFICULT TO CHANGE. SURFPLAN, A GENERAL MOTORS RESEARCH PROTOTYPE CAD PACKAGE, GENERATES A COMPUTER SURFACE DESIGN FAST SO THE PRODUCTION PROCESSES INTERACT SIMULTANEOUSLY. BY USING ADVANCED SURFACE MATHEMATICS, INTELLIGENT DATA STRUCTURES, COLOR SHADED GRAPHICS, AND AUTOMATED USER INTERFACES, THE ESSENCE OF A DESIGN IS PROVIDED IN A CONVENIENT CAD FORM.