Steve Tengler has been a senior contributor who has covered connected vehicles, methodologies and strategies in the ever-exciting world of automotive since early 2020. As the Vice President of Engineering Excellence in Envorso's consulting arm, Tengler gets an unparalleled view behind the curtain of the globe's premiere development organizations.
During a recent panel discussion at the Center of Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, a staggering statistic about software recalls was shared by Scott Tobin, CEO of Envorso, based on NHTSA data: nearly as many vehicles have been recalled since 2019 as the 138 years prior to that.
The hundreds of politicians and industry executives attending the conference – including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – certainly didn’t love hearing the roadway safety impact of such quality woes, but were essentially impotent. In the U.S., automakers are responsible for the safety of their products with only the punitive sticks of ongoing quality costs, civil court penalties and rare federal fines. Nevertheless, some automakers have awoken to the downstream, operational costs. For instance, Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, recognized its “… warranty costs hit, costing $25.5 million a day” and, as a result, is temporarily holding vehicles to confirm quality fixes in advance. As noted by John McElroy in an, “ are the number one problem at Ford right now … It’s been going on for years and they haven’t solved it yet.” But Ford is not alone. Tesla has suffered from the most recalls in 2022, 2023 and 2024 year-to-date with a running total of over 5.3 million vehicles affected. Stellantis has tied Ford with 41 recalls so far in 2024 with aDuring the aforementioned panel discussion, several executives suggested the emerging Software-Defined Vehicle would help alleviate a portion of the operational costs since automakers would be able to reflash software over-the-air akin to smartphones. However, incumbent automakers have been slow to fully develop over the air software update capabilities due to legacy architectures and personnel development. DNC Day 1: Biden Delivers Emotional Closing Speech After Hillary Clinton And Harris Hail His ‘Historic Leadership’Additionally, avoiding dealership fixes doesn’t erase all the costs. Per the National Institute of Standards and Technology , even the costs of fixing software defects just prior to productionof a consumer purchasing the same brand. “Automakers and the supply base need to awaken to the new-and-yet-age-old reality that driving quality into development requires a continuous commitment, operating system and management emphasis,” an exasperated executive from a major supplier that requested to remain anonymous said. “Projects are squeezed on cost and timing with only lip service and occasional assessments of quality. To radically decrease these recalls, it needs to be actively managed.”,” realizing the business case of the project – including the costs of rework – “The PMO needs additional support, in part from a senior executive, to gain the right level of knowledge .” Changing human behavior is a long process, andWhat is lost in the purely economic discussion about defect repair costs is the safety aspect of flawed code in the hands of consumers. Someand other locations remains that reusing the term “recall” is inappropriately lazy since remotely reflashed code is more easily fixed, but assuredly such pundits haven’t lost a family member to such defects. Accountants and lawyers can certainly create “ For those grieving family members, instead of hearing politicians like Whitmer cry “Fix the damn roads”, they will always want “Fix the damn code.”Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kindContinuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejectedAttempts or tactics that put the site security at riskProtect your community.
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