Product recall involves halting the sale of a product in the market when it fails to meet the desired standard. In the automobile industry, Toyota and Ford have made numerous recalls of their products. These are some of the leading motor vehicles manufacturers across the globe. It is worth noting that all players in this industry are not only expected to produce goods that meet the expectations of the customers, but the products produced must also be fit for purpose.
Between 2009 and 2010, Toyota recalled its vehicles that had issues with out of control gas pedals. The cars that were affected were the Toyota Avlon, Matrix, Camry, Prius, Highlander and Tundra. Some of its Lexus models were also recalled from the market. The organization recalled a total of 9 million vehicles during this period and the main challenge was problems with brake pedals. Something they would just stick. The organization was forced to reconfigure the accelerator set up after the recall. The recall was expected to cost the organization over $ 5 billion (Investopedia, 2017).The challenges with Toyota cars persisted and the organization had to recall its cars in 2011 due to accelerator problems. In 2011, 300,000 were recalled because of this problem. In 2017, it also recalled 2.9 million vehicles globally due to problems in airbags inflators (CNBC, 2017).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Ford is another organization that has experienced multiple recalls of its vehicles. For instance, in 1996 it had to recall 14 million vehicles as a result of faulty electronic switch that was being used to deactivate the cruise control functions in the vehicle. When brakes were applied, it indicated chances of overheating something that had the potential of causing a fire. The affected models were the F-series trucks.
In 2019, Ford recalled 953,000 vehicles due to faulty airbag inflators. The cars that were affected included the Ford Edge and the Lincoln MKX. The airbags could easily explode and shoot shrapnels to other vehicle parts (Autonews, 2019).
Similarity of Problems
In the above cases of recall of the Toyota and Ford models, it is evident that there were some similarities on the issues that necessitated recalls. For instance, in the recent recalls, Ford and Toyota recalled the vehicles due to the faulty airbags. The airbag could easily explode and throw shrapnel to the other parts of the car thus damaging it and probably causing an accident. The main reason that the organizations experienced these similar challenges is that they were sourcing for airbags from the same suppliers. In overall, the airbags, also referred to as the Takata airbags had caused 10 deaths in the United States of America and injured over 100 people before the automakers initiated the recall.
Actions Taken
In order to address the problem, the automakers got rid of the airbags with the volatile chemical referred to as the ammonium nitrate. The organization equally summoned the manufacturer of the airbags demanding that the designed be changed and be safer in its use (CNBC, 2019). The industry players also influenced competing firms in airbag manufacturing to avoid using ammonium nitrate in their manufacture.
In order to address the challenge of the problem with brake pedals, Toyota overhauled the breaking system and developed braking system that was easy to use and which was effective in slowing down as well as stopping vehicles. New engineering approaches, as well as the design of the switches, were adopted to ensure that the switches did not overheat or pose the risk of causing fire. In spite of addressing these issues, it is evident that product recalls are expensive and often results in huge losses in organizations. Such organizations should thus ensure that their products meet quality and safety standards before releasing to the market.
References
Autonews (2019). Ford adds 953,000 vehicles to Takata airbag recall. Retrieved from
https://www.autonews.com/regulation-safety/ford-adds-953000-vehicles-takata-airbag-recall
CNBC (2017). Toyota recalls vehicles globally over airbags. Retrieved from
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/30/toyota-recalls-vehicles-globally-over-airbags.html
Investopedia (2019). 5 of the largest car recalls in history. Retrieved from
https://www.investopedia.com/slide-show/car-recalls/
