Ford Pinto Quality Failure

See wheeler supra note 4 at 15.

Ford pinto quality failure. This is a thick top secret manual in green covers containing a step by step production plan for the model detailing the metallurgy weight strength and quality of every part in the car. While it would be easy to nominate the whole u s. Likewise in the pinto case ford s management whatever its exact reasoning decided to stick with the original design and not upgrade the pinto s fuel tank despite the test results reported by its engineers. The prosecutor of elkhart county indiana chose to seek an indictment against ford motor company for reckless homicide and criminal recklessness claiming that the cause of the deaths was the design of the pinto and ford s failure to remove the car from the highways before august 10 1978.

Here is the aftermath of ford s decision. The pinto memo which contains these dirty numbers was allegedly circulated among ford s senior management in 1968 two years before the pinto hit the streets and caused a number of. Quality failure of ford pinto causes of ford pinto top list of quality failure. On june 9 1978 ford agreed to recall 1 5 million ford pinto and 30 000 mercury bobcat sedan and hatchback models.

It was too late to save ford s reputation. Between 1971 and 1978 the pinto was responsible for a number of fire related deaths. A two door fastback sedan with a trunk a three. Ford neglected to add reinforcements to protect the easily ruptured fuel tank endangering drivers while earning the pinto a reputation for catching fire that persists today.

Olsen published by the society of automotive engineers. The ford pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by ford motor company in north america sold from the 1971 to the 1980 model years. Design flaws questionable ethics decisions by top management resulting in dangerous vehicle many were considered ugly 40 50 000 miles was not unusual for major breakdowns 14. Apparently the entire u s.

The top 5 automotive quality management system failures. The product objectives for the pinto are repeated in an article by ford executive f g. Auto industry decided to spend the 1970s resting on their laurels of building great cars that people wanted during the sixties. Iacocca was fired the following month.

Ford pinto and mercury bobcat model years 1971 to 1976 in order to compete with burgeoning japanese imports ford motor company mandated the production of a car that would cost no more than 2000 and weigh no more than 2000 pounds.