Reliability & Quality
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, automobile manufacturers recalled 24.8 million vehicles in the first 10 months of 2004. This number breaks the previous high of 24.6 million recalls set in the entire year of 2000.
Aon Global Insurance Services estimates that the cost for recalling an automobile model can be as high as $250 million – based on transportation charges, advertising costs, storage facilities, the need to inform distributors, etc. They base this estimate on the following figures - an average automotive recall takes about 250 days, and the daily cost of recalling an automobile model is about $1 million.
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Safety
Due to the quality and financial effects of job-related injuries, the automobile industry is concerned with job and machine safety assessment. A serious injury, which shuts down a line for several hours, can have a dramatic financial and production impact as most companies are using Just-in-Time-Inventory. As well the assembly lines have been become increasingly automated. As a result of these developments, the automotive industry has become a leading participant in developing machine tool and robotic risk assessment methods.
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