But there might be more to the rise in recalls than just a particularly tough year. New federal guidelines require automakers to report more defect data to the NHTSA, which no doubt has made a difference. Also as previously mentioned, new vehicles rely more on electronics than ever before, with 2004 being a record year for navigation equipment sales as well.
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| Toyota Motor Company, including Lexus and Scion, only experienced about 890,000 recalls so far this year, but still four times as many as it did in 2003. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
But recalls aren't necessarily bad. For instance, in order for carmakers to catch flaws before they become lawsuits, there's a greater desire internally to make problems public as soon as possible, and fix potentially dangerous problems faster. What's more, one component defect can also affect a greater number of vehicles than ever before, now that most automakers are sharing common parts among a larger number of new cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles in order to cut cost expenditures. The process of shared componentry should also simplify component development, and in the long run equal parts that are more reliable.
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| Recalls aren't necessarily bad, as it shows the automaker is being proactive when a problem has been discovered. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
Just factoring in the complexity of designing today's cars, and it's amazing that automakers can sell them for the prices they do and still make money - albeit seems that few still do turn a profit. What, with meeting mandated safety legislation, making the need to add weight to a vehicle in the way of structural protective steel, antilock brake technology, anti-rollover technology, airbags in almost ever position, tire pressure monitors, not to mention new rules for protecting pedestrians, and the list goes on, to meeting fuel economy and emissions standards, which juxtapose safety concerns by causing engineers to remove weight from new vehicles, improve engines with new technology like Chrysler, GM and Honda's various cylinder deactivation systems, or Ford, Honda or Toyota's complicated gasoline/electric hybrid drivetrains, and finally make something that we all want to drive, with the kind of passion built in that causes us to jump off our collective couches and run down to our local dealer to spend our hard earned money. Yes, building a new vehicle is a massive gamble.