auto alert
slump in sales. Rapid global growth is
planned for the Alfa Romeo, Jeep and
Maserati brands, with Alfa expected to
increase fivefold from its present level with
an expanded range, including crossovers,
all of which will be built in Italy, to some
400 000 vehicles by 2018. Jeep is expected
to double to 1,9 million units within the
same timeframe, with additional offshore
assembly including a joint venture with
Guangzhou Auto in China, while Maserati
is set to grow to 75 000 per annum in the
high-end luxury market The strategy for
North America sees Dodge as the home
grown performance brand, with volumes
expected to hold steady around the current
level of 600 000 units per annum, while
Chrysler is set to move from its earlier
luxury ambitions more into the mainstream
car and crossover market and to grow its
annual volumes from 350 000 to 800 000
units.
The Ram North American truck brand,
which was spun off from Dodge in 2009,
is doing well, having sold 463 000 units
last year. This is expected to grow to
620 000 units by the end of the five-year
plan, which includes upgrades to its current
model lineup, and more transatlantic
product migration in the form of the Fiat
Doblo-based ProMaster City later this year.
Fiat Professional in Europe will also gain
a mid-size pickup in 2016 for sale on that
continent and in Latin America.
It has been estimated that execution of this
plan will cost FCA some € 8 billion for each
of its five years. Oh, and in case you were
wondering, Ferrari is claimed to be worth
$15 billion, but it’s not for sale!
Technological Lemmings?
Legend tells us that Lemmings, a small
Northern Hemisphere rodent species,
sometimes commit mass suicide by
jumping into the sea in large numbers.
➲ “Is the global motor industry engaged in a
lemming-like rush to technological excess?”
The reality is slightly different, in that
some drowning attrition can be ascribed
to over-zealous migration, rather than
any compelling urge to self-destruct, but
“lemming-like” has become a frequently
used simile applied to persons showing
a tendency to make unwise choices, so
it may have relevance to this particular
subject. During his daily Internet scans
of global motor industry news, this
writer continuously encounters stories
relating to the recall of vehicles for the
rectification of technical defects.
The frequency of these recalls has, in
recent times, risen to almost biblical
proportions, and the numbers of vehicles
affected by individual campaigns can
easily run into millions. Last year, when
conducting some research into the
matter, it was discovered that there was
no single global reference monitoring
the frequency of recalls, but information
was available for the United States,
where recalls are closely monitored
by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA). The statistics
found listed a total of 18 638 recall
campaigns in the period 1990 to 2012,
but, unfortunately, did not reveal the
absolute number of vehicles affected.
More recently, the international media
has been full of the “ignition switch
recall”, involving 2,6 million General
Motors cars built since 2002. The
ignition switches in these vehicles
could, under certain circumstances,
reportedly turn themselves off, leading to
functional complications, including the
non-deployment of airbags, and some
consequent accident fatalities.
Newly-appointed CEO Mary Barra found
herself facing a hostile inquisition in the
US Congress only weeks after taking
office, which seemed a little unfair
given that the critical decisions relating
to this fault were taken more than a
decade earlier. However, the CEO’s job
description includes fronting up for the
company, and she took the medicine,
and has subsequently also taken some
tough action to restore public confidence
in the new GM Company’s corporate
persona and management.
Why, then, so many recent recalls,
affecting so many manufacturers? Is it
possible that the pace of technological
progress in the motor industry has
outpaced its collective ability to manage
quality?
| words in action
21
june 2014
There are several factors supporting
this broad supposition, including the
competitive pressure to shorten the
gestation period between design
conceptualisation and marketing launch,
the ever-increasing levels of tech