Submitted by Aiken Jacobsen on
Last week we reported on the results of the Toyota safety recall scandal. Because Toyota failed to warn consumers of some potentially deadly safety issues and waited too long to issue a recall, these safety issues resulted in deadly car accidents and tens of millions of dollars in fines for Toyota.
It seems that both Chrysler and Ford have learned a valuable lesson from the mistakes of Toyota. Both companies have already issued recalls for newly-discovered safety issues on several of their 2011 models.
Chrysler announced a recall of about 56,600 trucks in its 2011 Ram 1500 series. There were reported problems with the right rear axle. An investigation showed that due to a lack of lube oil the right rear axle could possibly overheat and seize up. The recall is simple and will involve adding more lube oil to the affected axle.
A representative for the company said it started the investigation after receiving just 3 consumer complaints. Chrysler estimates that no one has been hurt by the safety problem.
Ford also recently issued a recall of some 2011 cars. The recall was smaller but the potential safety problems were still quite large. The company recalled 14,700 cars of various models due to wiring problems in the controls for headlights and turn signals. Ford employees discovered that this faulty wiring could potentially cause a fire in the recalled vehicles.
Auto recalls are inevitable. As technology changes and improves it is not always possible to detect safety problems before cars hit the market. Since every car company must issue a recall at some time, the distinction between these companies lies in how they handle these recalls. In this case, Ford and Chrysler acted quickly and ethically by issuing immediate recalls before any consumers were hurt.
Source: The New York Times online, "Chrysler and Ford Pickup Trucks Are Recalled,"Christopher Jensen, 31 December 2010
