In$2021,$ Ford allocated$$ $$1,041$ per vehicle for covering warranty claims compared with$$ $$713$ per vehicle for rival GM$.$ This$$ year, in addition to the$$ recalls, auto$-$safety regulators also$$ opened a defect investigation into $2021$ Ford$$ Broncos after receiving reports of$$ "catastrophic engine$$ failures" at highway speeds.

Part $4$

One of the challenges at Ford was that it tried to make too many$$ last$-$minute design and engineering changes ahead of a$$ new$-$vehicle launch, increasing the risk of problems down the line. Workers rallied to fix problems when they blew$$ up$,$ but$$ weren't empowered to flag them early in the process when there was still time to head them off. Consumer Reports says Ford has too many$$ new$-$model launches bunched together and often makes more substantive changes in its$$ redesigns, while other car companies use more$$ carry$-$over parts.

Part $5$

Ford recently installed video cameras to monitor the early build of vehicleslong dashbefore productionlong dashto target any steps they can eliminate or simplify. Higher tech cameras are now used to inspect the vehicles for$$ quality, too, allowing workers to scour for an incorrectly placed hose or a paint blemish.$"$We are placing more time and emphasis on ensuring everything is done right upfront to prevent quality issues from manifesting later in the development$$ process," says$$ Ford's new quality czar.

Part $6$

How Ford compares itself to rivals in quality has$$ changed, too. It now sets its quality targets against the benchmarks of its competitors. One example is the quality of$$ Ford's Bronco SUV as compared with the Jeep Wrangler.

$$Source: The Wall Street Journal$($August $6-7,2022).$

Part $7$

Critical Thinking Questions

$1.$ What appears to be causing many of$$ Ford's quality problems leading to high warranty$$ costs?

A$.$

nobody in charge of quality control

B$.$

supply chain issues

C$.$

bad tires

D$.$

too many design changes

E$.$

poorly trained workforce