Takata Look-Alike ARC Recall Leaves 67 Million Vehicle Owners Confused and Waiting on a Remedy |
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It was Takata all over again, moaned many in the automotive industry last Spring, as NHTSA called for a recall of millions of airbag inflators manufactured by Tennessee-based ARC. At least nine ruptures and two deaths have owners unsure whether to drive their vehicles while waiting for replacement airbags that are nowhere in sight. Under investigation since 2015, ARC has disputed the findings citing NHTSA's own estimate that the risk of future ruptures would be 1 in 370,000 vehicles. Almost a year later, little progress has been made to remedy this situation or calm the fears of American consumers. |
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While the Yahoo article focuses on GM's response, the ARC recall affects, at least a dozen OEMs - Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Hyundai and Kia − are affected, leaving owneer to wonder anxiously whether their vehicles contain driver or front passenger inflators made by ARC. Because ARC supplies inflators that are included in other manufacturers’ airbags, there’s no easy way for vehicle owners to determine whether their inflators are made by ARC. A 40-year-old mother of 10 from Michigan died after an inflator explosion. She was fatally struck by metal fragments when her 2015 Chevrolet Traverse SUV was involved in a minor crash in 2021. Read the related article on the Yahoo News website.
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Tiny Font Causes Giant Recall for Tesla
Tesla is recalling nearly every vehicle is manufactured - more than 2 million vehicles in the U.S. - due to small font sizes on warning panels, bringing the vehicles out of compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety standards. Fortunately for the EV manufacturer, Tesla will resolve the problem through a wireless software update. Read more on the Forbes website.
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Stellantis Off the Hook for Rotary Gear Roll-Away
After a seven-year investigation, NHTSA will not seek a recall of more than 1 million Dodge and Ram vehicles that can roll away after being shifted into park. NHTSA did not find evidence that a design or manufacturing defect caused the rollaway incidents. The agency also said that a service campaign had reduced customer complaints significantly. Read more on the ABC News website.
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The Sales-to-Service-to-Sales Ecosystem
Has a Defection Problem
A Blog Post by Sean Reyes, Recall Masters CMO
Sell more cars and you’ll service more cars. And, when you service more cars, you’ll sell more cars. The vehicle sales and servicing ecosystem is the revenue lifeblood dealerships have been relying on for decades. But customer defection is causing an imbalance to the ying and yang of dealership operations. If we’re not servicing as many cars, we’ll undoubtedly sell fewer cars. Brand loyalty has dipped to an all-time low and lead conversion is at pathetic rates – what can dealers do to revitalize the unquestionable benefits between the front of the house and the back?
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Service defection from dealerships didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it was only until the Cox Automotive 2023 Service Industry that dealers were the preferred provider for vehicle repair. The $400 billion-a-year vehicle maintenance industry has a new reigning champion – independent repair shops. This not only puts a knife in the dealer win streak, but signals significant losses for fixed operations and the lead generation engine fueling new vehicle sales. How did we get here? |
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It’s almost impossible to isolate a single cause of dealer defection, but most would agree on the timing – right around the time that the new vehicle falls out of warranty and funding repair costs will come from the customer’s wallet. While every dealer smiles at the thought of more Customer Pay (CP) revenue...Read the blog post in its entirety on the Recall Masters website.
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In Recent Recall Campaign News |
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EV User Error Almost Burns the House Down
A Tesla owner in North Carolina almost burned his house down after improperly charging the vehicle's 12-volt batter in the house. According to the local Fire Department Chief, it's a mistake that just about any car owner could make. No recall has been issued for a category attributed to "user error", though we'll likely see similar dangers and EVs age and owners look to repair charging systems without the assistance of a trained technician. Read more about this event on the USA Today website.
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Toyota Issues "Do Not Drive" for Aging Models
Like so many OEMs, Toyota has made it a priority to repair dangerous Takata airbags that have not yet been replaced due to owners who have not taken action. To demonstrate the serious nature of the recall, Toyota issued an immediate Do Not Drive advisory to 50,00 owners of Corollas (made from 2003 to 2004), the Matrix (same years), and RAV4 (2004-2005). Now to the difficult task of locating the 2nd/3rd/4th generation owners. Read more about this recall campaign on the autoevolution.com website.
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More Recall Campaign News
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