General Motors is quickly becoming widely known as the automaker with all the recalls, but according to Bloomberg, the word recall should actually be synonymous with the name Toyota, not GM.
Over the last five years, Toyota has recalled about 24 million vehicles. GM is close behind, but still not the overall leader, with about 21 million vehicles recalled over the same time period. The data is not all that shocking considering Toyota and GM are two of the largest automakers in the world, so when they do issue a recall, it’s usually very large in comparison to Porsche or another low-volume manufacturer.
Seeing how this information changes going forward should be interesting, considering GM’s ‘switchgate’ crisis has prompted other automakers to take extreme caution and fast track some of their recalls as well.
Comments
Well I would rather have my car turn off then accelerate out of control. People talk about buying a basic model car with no options. How about making one with no airbags or computers to go wrong?
Given a choice, I’d rather NOT have my vehicle turn off or suddenly accelerate! Either one can be fatal – as has already been evidenced by numerous DEATHS (let’s call it what it is) of drivers who weren’t “under the influence”, overly fatigued or mistook the accelerator or brake pedals for what they weren’t.
These companies have been making automobiles for 100 years (or darned near close to it). IMO, despite all of the “engineering challenges” that designing, engineering and manufacturing an automobile entails given the current knowledge and technology available, it’s more difficult to screw it up than it is to get it right. Many of these problems might have been avoided if sufficient (read; “more”) quality control / quality assurance testing had been done on ALL parts and those in charge of approving these processes and potential changes to parts design, engineering, manufacturing and procurement process weren’t concerned about being ignored, overruled or where their next paycheck might be coming from.
Unfortunately, there appears to be (have been) a “laissez faire” / haphazard attitude by many company “bean counters” and decision-makers at the expense of SAFETY in order to save money and / or face (as evidenced most recently at GM). How did it get there? It was invited in.
It was invited in because the automotive
“enthusiasts” who founded these companies with a vision of producing “awesome” automobiles either weren’t able or didn’t want to concern themselves with the ever-increasing time and attention the finances of a growing company necessitating massive expenditures (acquisition of factory space, machinery, parts, labor and other resources) demanded.
“Welcome” the new employee. Welcome the accountant. Welcome the CFO. Welcome to the new culture which was invited in and, over time, its greedy, narrow-minded bottom line snuck itself into the conscience of nearly every employee and has since permeated the industry. Welcome to compromise, in the interest of making a buck. The list of “compromises” is long. Alone the delay of introducing equipment related to safety such as headrests and seatbelts, which had been ready years before its introduction, is head-scratching and head-shakingly-mindboggling.
The long-term “cost” of “coddling” this money-saving-cost-cutting-in-the-interest-of-maximizing-profits attitude, thereby having allowed it to flourish into a laid-back “business as usual” model and culture is near-immeasurable – qualitatively, speaking. The financial expense of preparing for law suits, sitting through law suits, the potential financial verdicts and the currently near 1 million recalled GM vehicles amounts to what may be referred to as the “back-end” of doing business. Essentially, it is the calculated forecast of knowing there will most-likely be additional expenses related to a single or multiple products or parts relating thereto. This mind-set, this culture should’ve been exterminated by those in the company(ies) who knew better, yet, did nothing.
Were the corner and cost-cutting efforts worth it, financially, ethically and financially, in the long run? I suppose those who KNOW the answer to this question are too preoccupied worrying about where there next paycheck may be coming from and how they will support their families. A certain number of them will NEVER discover the answer. Where were the moral and ethical checks?! Who in the hell hired these people?!
There are two well-known sayings which come to mind that appear to fit the demonstrated mind-set and culture that’s successfully been at work here (paraphrased); “there are those who know the price of everything but the value of little” (Oscar Wilde) and “all that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing” (Edmund Burke).
I’d rather own an automobile which is safe even if it means I may have to pay a little more for it and, if given such a choice, I’d strongly prefer NOT to have my vehicle spontaneously ignite, turn off or suddenly accelerate or do anything else which will compromise my safety, health or life because someone at a company who is responsible for the manufacturing process and the parts as well as the assembly process are geared toward ensuring a 100% safe product.
That is my thought process and those are my values, however. Perhaps I should look beyond a company’s product offerings and their mission, value and vision statements and, instead, more closely at the IMPLEMENTED values of the companies whose products I purchase. That is the attitude of which many newer companies in today’s marketplace are born and flourish (I suppose that’s something for my conscience to grapple with).
BTW, how do you KNOW your vehicle doesn’t have a serious safety “flaw”?
Could it be “confidence”? If so, whose? Yours? Or could it be the company’s “confidence” in the automobile they’ve built and everything that’s gone into the design, engineering and manufacturing process? Perhaps it’s YOUR “confidence” IN the company whose automobile you purchased?
Perhaps it’s “faith”. If so, whose? Yours? Or could it be the company’s “faith” in the automobile they’ve built and everything that’s gone into the design, engineering and manufacturing process? Perhaps it’s YOUR “faith” IN the company whose automobile you purchased??? Perhaps it’s a combination of “confidence” and “faith”?
Perhaps it’s “hope”?
Confidence? Faith? Hope? Really?!
Which reminds me of another saying (paraphrased); “if man has no hope or faith, what does he have to live for?” (author unknown).
Perhaps nearly everyone’s well-being when they’re driving, riding in, or are near any moving automobile, relies more heavily on a “wing and a prayer” than confidence, faith or hope?
There is NO way to KNOW for certain and the odds of it improving aren’t in anyone’s favor, at least not anytime soon…
We can call it corporate greed, but there was more to the story. GM, the company was just messed up, period. They produced some pretty good vehicles under that period, but post bailout, especially very recent years and from this day forward, the vehicles are better than just good. GM is way over Toyota in my book, I can see it actually happening as a whole rating in coming years, if they continue forward on the right path.
Now looking at Toyota and this ignition issue from GM, the Toyota issue was more of a engineering defect. Still to this day from driving one of the recalled GM cars, a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, I never experienced the issue. I’ve always driven with a light keychain, I’ve gone through all kinds of bumps in roads all over the years, nothing happened. Now they have a rare occasion to where this happens on Camaros? There’s still no way that I can see how I drive to where there would be an issue. I’ll admit those new ignitions and cylinder locks are pretty strong, I just got mine fixed yesterday. GM admitted that the part was to blame, but from my driving experiences I think some if not most of the accidents could have been avoided. You could get a car to stall from an ignition in any vehicle, it’s just that GM’s ignition setup was a little weak
I drove a 2005 cobalt and I had it happen. My buddy had a 2006 he had it happen. So yes just because it dosnt happen to you dosnt mean it never happens. No I did not crash hey did you get the power steering motor recalled on your cobalt? Yes you did. That power steering will fail also. I had that happen countless times.
Nice to see the “truth” about recall quantity instead of all of this lets just blast GM or go after them ’cause that’s where the money is B.S.
Show me a company that has never made a mistake and I will show you a company that has never sold a product.
As long as humans are involved there will be mistakes, errors and problems.
To be honest with the way cars are today they have to be very advanced to meet all the regulations and customer expectations. It is amazing they can build so many and have so few problems as it is. It is like the airlines. Yes you still get a crash now and then but with so many planes in the air at any moment it is amazing how few we have.
I know many like to promote the corporate greed banner but there is a lot more to this than just that. Too often if someone does not get their way they fall behind greed.
The reality is they could build even better cars but then no one would buy them for they would be too expensive. Also companies are in business to make a profit not just to provide services and employment. Who is to dictate how much profit one should or could make?
To make a good product and profit is like balancing on the tip of a needle and it takes so little to set it off one way or the other. I fully believe that no one woke up and said people will die from this issue but we will not do anything about it. Generally a stalling car is not a death sentence and they had anticipation treating this as a inconvenience more than a safety issue. I think where things went wrong is with so few deaths and so many cars there really were no real red flags here. Lets face it no one notices for a good long while and even then this is far from the worst auto related safety issue we have ever seen.
The thing we need to see is how GM moves on from here. I really think this in will help GM as it has not effected sales and to me it give Mary Barra to clean house in areas of the company she was still seeing resistance from the old GM thinking. Yes there is still some there and the issues here can give her the Ammo to take these people out or change their ways.
In the end I see the new GM being more of what it can be than what it was. Only Time will prove if this theory is correct or not.
Big automaker = big recalls. Recalls are not what makes GM car ownership so unsatisfying. Use any other brand vehicle as intended and you will have years of trouble free miles. Garbage Motors on the other hand will have electrical gremlins that start while the car still smells new. And your fuel pump will go at around 100k miles whereas they last the life of the vehicle in any other make.
I thought I smelled your fouls stench!
I would say something about how ignorant you are but your post has already done that for me. Thank!
If you ever have a honest argument we would be happy to see it.
FYI I have never had to replace a Pump in any vehicle GM or otherwise in all my years of driving. It is rare for any of them to go in any car. Besides many are made by the same suppliers no matter the brand.
To be honest, some Silverado’s/Sierra’s and Tahoe’s/Suburban’s/Yukon’s/Escalade’s from the years of 1992-2006 have had problems with their fuel pumps and gauge clusters. But it was mostly because of the supplier.
My Malibu is going on 28K miles no problem! I feel it is a solidly built car (unlike Sonata, Camry, Altima, or Fusion). Get smart and listen to scott3 before you make yourself sound even dumber.
Edgar Troll will be Troll and we can help them if they do not want to help themselves.
He has no credibility here or even a real voice and has become a joke. If he does not understand how the real auto industry works by now he never will.
GM knows he can do good cars. But they have to care much quality control, safety.
Not only live appearance and power. They need to review more cars when assembled before going on sale. They have to be more careful with their parts suppliers.
GM knows that he can return to retrieve as the number one in worldwide sales for this greater commitment to teamwork is needed.
Toyota has had more calls and yet I can not believe that people continue to buy Toyota cars. This suggests me that people who buy Toyota do not value your life, just do not care to have an accident.
Adrian the issue has been that GM has made some major demands on suppliers to hold cost and today we have see the results. But GM is not alone here as all makers are in the same boat right now as most companies have a lot of recalls with the media poking around this year like they are.
Mary Barra has been working to continue the repair of the relationships with the suppliers and Mark Ruess has been working to not cheap out so much that GM pays the price on the new cars. This will pay off as we go forward but unfortunately it has little effect on the past. But even cars like Rolls Royce where cost is no object they have failures too. I have already seen a change and I expect it will continue to improve. You just can judge this by the recalls as they are recalling anything that hints of an issue and most of these things would normally be a TSB. GM is trying to make sure that they do not have any lingering effects after this stuff is cleaned up this summer.
As for Toyota….. I would be the last person on earth that would buy a Toyota. Now with that said there is not danger in driving one any greater than any other car on the market.
As long as man builds cars they will have issues from time to time. As long as man drives car there is always going to be a certain level of risk involved every time you pull out of the drive.
The fact is many other things kill more people every year. Just look at how many people die directly and indirectly to alcohol but yet no one complains much.
Same with planes as one crashes it gets all the media but they forget the 100,000 of thousand flights a day that happen and nary a loss. The 747 alone in it’s history has carried numbers of passengers that nearly total 80% of the people of earth and yet the losses are so low.
Hell the odd of dying of a heart attack are greater than most auto related issues.
I totally agree with you.
It is true that people do not look at things with several problems and shortcomings of the other means of transportation, motorcycles, bicycles, airplanes, trains and more.
Anybody who follow happenings in the auto industry should know that Toyota is king of recalls. With Toyota, GM and VW being by far the top 3 companies in the world, in terms of number of units sold, and variety of models, this should surprise no one. Whilst this does not make GM any less culpable, it just hammer home the point that recalls are inevitable, especially in this era, with so much tech in modern cars, so much emphasis on safety, so much more oversight by the authorities, so much more information available through social media and the internet.
My beef with these auto companies is not the number of recalls, it’s more to do with their lack of honesty and urgency in dealing with these recalls as soon as they become aware of a problem
I agree up till the 4th line.
Oversight is good but it also can bite you in the a$$ if you let the over sight go unchecked. Just look at the IRS and VA and how they are the ones that should be overseeing these government agency’s and how they have abused their power. Just look at the NHTSA and how they have not been overseen and they are not doing their job either but they sure can point fingers at everyone else.
As for the lack of honest…. Well welcome to the human race. For the most part most people are honest but every house from your house to the White House has some dishonesty in it some where. No one walks on water.
Also as society is today the moral compass of some people from industry to green peace is off true north.
Now as for the lack of urgency and delays in dealing with things or even making statements much of our legal system has brought that about. In this day and age any company that admits or states anything it can and will be used against them in court. This is why GM has waited to get their ducks in a row to speak out on the ignition deal. One I really don’t think many knew what all went on and two you had better damn sure know what you say before you say it as it could easily be taken out of context and used against you in a court of law.
But there are bad people in industry and we do need to weed them as we can find them but just make sure you are taking out a honest person in a bad place.
As for the consumer so many of them are now dishonest or do not want to take personal responsibilities for their own actions when they are at fault.
I deal with customer quality control and most people are not bad but there is a growing element that takes advantage of the system and they cost all of the honest people more money. I have see all sorts of lies and deceit. They think oh this is just a big company and I can get them for what I want and there is no victim well you and I are the victim for their lies.
But humans are humans and we will always have dishonesty and evil out there. In this day and age so many do not know right from wrong in all segments of life and that is why we have to lock our doors today.