Ford Motor Company\'s Experience With Its Ford

¶ … Ford Motor Company's experience with its Ford Pinto model are some of the darkest in the long history of the company. Although the company only manufactured the Pinto for a short number of years, the vehicle left a lasting impression on the company's operation (Dowie M., 1977).

The production and marketing of the Ford Pinto began in 1970 in response to the public's demand for small, economical vehicles. Over the subsequent years, the Pinto became subject to repeated complaints about its susceptibility to catching fire in low-speed, rear-end collisions. There were numerous such complaints but little was done to address the problem but Ford did little to address the problem until the summer of 1978 when three teenage mid-American girls were tragically burned alive inside a Pinto that had been struck from behind. This time the prosecutor of the county in which the young girls had been killed decided to charge the Ford Corporation with reckless homicide in regard to the girls' deaths. The prosecutor's decision created an outcry that ignited the public's interest in Pinto fire cases and ultimately gave credence to the not only the many product liability cases pending against Ford but also to the field of product liability in general.

The Pinto fire cases represent what can occur when competition and expediency is prioritized at the expense of safety (Schwartz, 1991). At the end of 60's decade and the beginning of the 70's the American automobile industry was under attack from competition from Germany and Japan. Prior to that point the American automobile industry had enjoyed control of the market but German and Japan auto makers began importing small vehicles that caught the attention of the American public. The American auto industry was caught off guard and the Pinto was an example of how the industry attempted to respond. Unfortunately, the response was fraught with problems and, in the end, it proved to be fatal to a large number of consumers.

The fact that Ford acted too hastily in placing the Pinto on the market is unfortunate but what acerbates the situation even further is the fact that Ford's own testing indicated that there were problems with the Pinto's fuel tank design. Ford, however, determined to go forward with the production and sale of the Pinto even though they aware of the problems. Based on Ford internal publications, the fuel tank's design was in compliance with the existing safety standards and, therefore, Ford felt no compulsion to change the design. For Ford, making sure that the Pinto was placed on the market for less than $2,000 and weigh less than 2,000 pounds was the priority. Anything that would increase the cost or weight had to be avoided, including safety. Ford corporate chairman, Lee Iacocca, was quoted as saying, "Safety doesn't sell."

In turns out that Iacocca was correct. Despite the loss of many customer's lives, Ford profited greatly by the sale of the Pinto until the publicity surrounding the death of the three Midwestern girls brought unwanted attention to the inherent defects in the Pinto's design. Finally, in 1978, Ford issued a recall for all Pintos manufactured between 1970 and 1976 in order to repair the condition that was resulting in rear-end collision fires (Wheeler, 1981) Interestingly, even after issuing the recall, Ford still argued at the trial regarding the death of the three girls that their decision to go forward with production of the Pinto was a good one based on their cost/benefit analysis (Dowie, 1977).