Rapid progress of science and technology has characterized the period since themid-19th century. This article provides a retrospective historical analysis of the chieffactors that influenced the development of complex technological systems and thephases and duration of their life cycles. In the course of technological progress, thetime lag between the first conception of a complex technological system and its fulldevelopment and practical application has been constantly shrinking, from about a100 to approximately 5 years. Lifetimes of the subsequent generations of a particulartechnological system, from the first model to the point when it becomes completelyobsolete, have also been reduced to between 2 and 10 years, depending of the type oftechnology. In order to ensure the competitiveness of a product, one has to determinecorrectly the moment of transition from an old technological system to a new one. The methods of such technological change are discussed here through the example ofautomobile technology