General Motors is abandoning its traditional summer-shut down in order to keep up with buyer demand.
Typically, GM plants in the U.S. shut down for two weeks in late June-early July. But, last week the company announced that this year, most of its domestic plants will forego the traditional shut-down to help meet increasing demand from buyers.
The decision is expected to generate up to 56,000 additional vehicles. (more…)
President Obama has signed a memorandum ordering federal agencies to prepare plans for the first fuel efficiency standards ever established for big-rig trucks.
Specifically, the memorandum orders the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish greenhouse gas emissions standards for commercial medium- and heavy-duty vehicles beginning with model year 2014. The goal is to issue a final rule by July 30, 2011. (more…)
For the first time in the ten-year history of the North American OEM/Supplier Working Relations Study conducted by Planning Perspectives, a U.S. automaker – Ford – is ranked in the top three OEMs.
The annual study tracks supplier perceptions of their working relations with the top three U.S. and top three Japanese automakers across 14 commodity purchasing areas. This year 646 sales personnel from 510 suppliers participated, providing data for nearly 2,500 buying situations.
Honda and Toyota, finished in first and second place, respectively. Ford took the third spot.
Nissan continues to slip in the rankings, dropping to fourth place this year, while GM – in fifth place – continues showing strong, steady improvement. Chrysler is also showing some improvement but is still in last place, the position it has held since 2008.
This study is significant because the results are used to calculate the Working Relations Index (WRI), and automakers with a higher WRI realize significantly greater benefits from their suppliers than those automakers with a lower WRI.
To calculate the WRI, Planning Perspectives ranks each OEM across 17 variables comprising five key categories: (more…)
For Toyota, the bad news just keeps coming.
Now, ABC News is reporting that U.S. regulators are reviewing more than 60 complaints that the fixes made on Toyota cars recalled for unintended acceleration have not solved the problem.
Toyota says a partial review of these complaints has found no evidence of failure in the electronic throttle system or in the repairs. The company also says it hasn’t found problems in the brake override system.
Still, there’s no doubt that news like this is making a very bad situation even worse. As Toyota technology chief Takeshi Uchiyamada told ABC News, “The Toyota brand is in a deep crisis.”
How did we get to this point, where long-revered Toyota supply chain management strategies are now a cautionary tale? What lessons can be learned from this devastating series of global safety-related recalls? (more…)
Two weeks ago, the Toyota recall put the spotlight on supplier collaboration.
Now, Ford has announced that it will update brake-related software on its 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid, and there are new questions about the safety of 2009 – 2010 Toyota Corollas and 2005 – 2009 Chevrolet Cobalts.
In short, what seemed at first to be an isolated brake problem has mushroomed into something more. Now, it appears that vehicle manufacturers (VMs) are awakening to the potential dangers of the increasing electronics and software content in today’s cars.
Many electronic automotive technologies (the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and anti-lock brake systems (ABS), e.g.) have long been perceived as safe and dependable. But, the recent recalls have made me wonder, could we now have a case where cars have too much of a good thing? (more…)
