Ford specialist has plan to overhaul culture, stop warranty claim finger-pointing

[AzScorpion]

While a very long article its worth while reading. It lays out what warranty costs and costing Ford compared to GM. It's no secret Ford has been spending Billions on warranty claims over the past few years and now they're finally trying to figure out why. Add that to the Billions more building the new Blue Oval City and they're in very deep.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ford-specialist-plan-overhaul-culture-012635470.html

"Most warranty issues come from failure in product development discipline," said market analyst Jon Gabrielsen. "GM got better while Ford got worse over the past 10 years."

GM has seen its warranty claims come in lower than Ford while selling more vehicles, according to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission compiled by industry authority Warranty Week

Industry analysts say they've watched warranty costs grow steadily at Ford, and Farley is the first chief executive in awhile to try to change established practices at the 118-year-old company.

"Look, warranty cost is the greatest profit opportunity that Ford has," said John McElroy, a longtime industry observer and host of "Autoline After Hours" webcast and podcast.

"If they could just get to GM’s level, they’d free up a couple billion dollars on the bottom line," he said. "The question is, why are Ford’s warranty costs so much higher than anybody else? Not because suppliers sort out the bad parts and ship those to Ford. I think this gets back to the way Ford conducts its purchasing policies."

Ford traditionally has run its product programs on strict individual budgets, McElroy said.

"The powertrain people do their thing. Same with the suspension people. Same with instrument panel designers," he said. "So what Ford has ended up with, in my opinion, is optimized components but not an optimized system."

Another issue has been a reputation for purchasing cheaper components to meet vehicle program cost targets while companies such as Toyota and Honda may invest a little more up front on higher quality parts and save in the long run, McElroy said.

"Ford, heretofore, would not admit it was part of the problem. It wanted to blame suppliers," he said. "Ford has been pointing fingers at everybody. ... Until Farley comes along and says, 'What the hell is going on?' He's more willing to admit there are problems at the company and do something about it."

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[PoorSpecRanger]

What I took away from this is there is such a disconnect between customer support and engineering that engineering has to resort to social media to get customer feedback and information about issues.

 

[AzScorpion]

What I took away from this is there is such a disconnect between customer support and engineering that engineering has to resort to social media to get customer feedback and information about issues.

It's like everyone is pointing fingers at the next guy (supplier) and no one wants to take responsibility. It's a decent size list too and adds up to quite a bit of money, almost 20 Billion. ?

During the past five years, Ford has seen the highest warranty claims in more than a decade while sales have gone down globally:

• $3.457 billion in 2017; 6.61 million cars sold
• $4.360 billion in 2018; 5.98 million cars sold
• $4.561 billion in 2019; 5.39 million cars sold
• $3.923 billion in 2020; 4.19 million cars sold
• $3.952 billion in 2021; 3.94 million cars sold

A quick snapshot reveals problems with these high-profile vehicles:

• 2020 Ford Explorer has 12 recalls
• 2020 Lincoln Aviator, 11 recalls
• 2021 Mustang Mach-E, four
• 2021 Ford Bronco Sport, seven
• 2021 Ford F-150, nine

And Ford just announced two new recalls Friday for more than 737,000 vehicles to fix oil leaks and trailer braking systems.

 

[dtech]

Perused it and the most meaningful takeway was his statement about identifying whose at fault isn't as much of his focus as fixing it is, but that's not exactly a logical statement. So until he fixes the bms and the hvac I'm not buying whatever it is he's selling.

 

[AzScorpion]

Perused it and the most meaningful takeway was his statement about identifying whose at fault isn't as much of his focus as fixing it is, but that's not exactly a logical statement. So until he fixes the bms and the hvac I'm not buying whatever it is he's selling.

It's almost like the article they put out last year saying they're going to start cracking down on dealers who are making up their vehicles. Sounds great if they actually did do this but it's still happening today.

 

[dtech]

It's almost like the article they put out last year saying they're going to start cracking down on dealers who are making up their vehicles. Sounds great if they actually did do this but it's still happening today.

The hvac failures on the 2019 is as good example as any, I criticized fords design and Phil responded saying the designs are rigorously tested, and someone else chimed in saying it must be a supplier quality issue. From the owners perspective it's all immaterial, it's a Ford problem they own it and should be doing more to make it right such as fixing even beyond the 3/36 warranty.

 

[veedubtuner]

Don't see the Ranger at all mentioned in that article, halfway through it.

 

[AzScorpion]

The hvac failures on the 2019 is as good example as any, I criticized fords design and Phil responded saying the designs are rigorously tested, and someone else chimed in saying it must be a supplier quality issue. From the owners perspective it's all immaterial, it's a Ford problem they own it and should be doing more to make it right such as fixing even beyond the 3/36 warranty.

Plus it wasn't just the 2019's it went through mid year of the 2020's too. It's all Fords problem regardless because they're still responsible for their contractors. Sure stuff happens but it's their name on the product and they're the ones who are responsible for fixing them in the end.

 

[dtech]

While a very long article its worth while reading. It lays out what warranty costs and costing Ford compared to GM. It's no secret Ford has been spending Billions on warranty claims over the past few years and now they're finally trying to figure out why. Add that to the Billions more building the new Blue Oval City and they're in very deep.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ford-specialist-plan-overhaul-culture-012635470.html

Not a huge gm fan but there is something to be said about the positive changes Mary Barra has made at gm, and part of that may be that she has been given time to succeed while ford seems to quickly change ceos. Barra said from day one she was intent on making cultural changes and eliminating stovepiping in the gm culture.

 

[AzScorpion]

Not a huge gm fan but there is something to be said about the positive changes Mary Barra has made at gm, and part of that may be that she has been given time to succeed while ford seems to quickly change ceos. Barra said from day one she was intent on making cultural changes and eliminating stovepiping in the gm culture.

But, but isn't that what Farley is/was supposed to do?

I haven't given GM a good look for over 30 years since I bought my one and only truck from them. Well my Vette too. But I will say that new Colorado ZR2 looks really nice and I "might" consider giving it a look over if I saw one on a dealers floor. Sorry @Friday yet? I know your heads about to explode with that comment. Would it be ok if it was a blue one??

 

[Bob902]

But, but isn't that what Farley is/was supposed to do?

I haven't given GM a good look for over 30 years since I bought my one and only truck from them. Well my Vette too. But I will say that new Colorado ZR2 looks really nice and I "might" consider giving it a look over if I saw one on a dealers floor. Sorry @Friday yet? I know your heads about to explode with that comment. Would it be ok if it was a blue one??

I see them just about everyday running Wentzville with dealer/manufacturer tags. They look pretty good.

 

[AzScorpion]

I see them just about everyday running Wentzville with dealer/manufacturer tags. They look pretty good.

The new ones, I didn't think the order banks were even open for them yet? Or are these just the test ones?

 

[Bob902]

The new ones, I didn't think the order banks were even open for them yet? Or are these just the test ones?

They are the new ones. I am thinking they are test mules, but they had a news story the other night on tv showing the first ones rolling off the assembly line.

 

[dtech]

But, but isn't that was Farley is/was supposed to do?

I haven't given GM a good look for over 30 years since I bought my one and only truck from them. Well my Vette too. But I will say that new Colorado ZR2 looks really nice and I "might" consider giving it a look over if I saw one on a dealers floor. Sorry @Friday yet? I know your heads about to explode with that comment. Would it be ok if it was a blue one??

Well IIRC Phil did point out that one of the issues - if not the biggest is that Ford Motor Company is still run like a family owned company , so given the short tenure of Ford CEOs Farley could well be in trouble with his perhaps investing too much and too quickly in the changeover to EVs - which are facing more headwinds in 2023 as reality sets in with respect to buyer's actually buying in the anticipated numbers.

 

[AzScorpion]

They are the new ones. I am thinking they are test mules, but they had a news story the other night on tv showing the first ones rolling off the assembly line.

Wow I didn't think they were going to roll them out this fast. With production starting July 10 the '23 Fords won't be out until late summer.

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