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"The US car industry is notorious for poor engineering standards and quality," Engineering standards are * very broadly* similar, worldwide, as auto companies
by umichguy 8y ago
"The US car industry is notorious for poor engineering standards and quality,"
Engineering standards are * very broadly* similar, worldwide, as auto companies do have to design and sell a vehicle for multiple markets. What was lacking in the U.S. is the actual execution of the build quality. You can engineer something to be really good, but if you don't build it well, there's no point.
A very good example of this is the year 2000 Ford Focus. It was winning car of the year/ best quality awards in Europe, while it was noted for having the most amount of recalls in the U.S for a Ford. Broadly the same product with some localized differences, built separately in EU and the U.S. - completely different execution/ build quality.
- jorblumesea 8y agoMy overall point was, it seems silly to use one manufacturing sector to make a determination about the entire industry. The US is home to some really cutting edge technology/manufacturing companies.
- umichguy 8y agoYep. That's a fair point to say.
- nradov 8y agoI'm not convinced that there was a huge difference in Ford Focus build quality between American versus European factories. I experienced both as rental cars and they seemed equivalent. On average European drivers make shorter trips at lower speeds on smoother roads, and they're more forgiving about NVH problems.
- umichguy 8y agoOh yes, there was! I am not talking about simple things like NVH or other minor issues. I am talking about safety recalls like the wheel bearing failures which can cause your damn tires to fall off kind of variety! I was a summer intern at Ford in 06/07 and they were still dealing with issues from the 2000-2003/04 cars. A sample for you: "2000-10-24 (Published by NHTSA on 2000-10-24) Recall Summary: VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. THE REAR WHEEL HUB RETAINING NUTS CAN LOOSEN AND ALLOW THE LEFT REAR WHEEL AND BRAKE DRUM ASSEMBLY TO SEPARATE FROM THE VEHICLE. Hazard: THIS CONDITION COULD RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH." Knock yourself out. And this doesn't include dealer fixes (called technical service bulletins -TSBs) which are not actual recalls. https://www.autosafety.org/fords-trouble-prone-focus-hit-safety-recalls-service-campaigns-investigations/ https://www.autosafety.org/fords-trouble-prone-focus-hit-saf... http://wemakeitsafer.com/vehicle-recall/Ford-Focus-Recall-5096172 http://wemakeitsafer.com/vehicle-recall/Ford-Focus-Recall-50...