Ford Pinto Case

Ford Pinto Case

Team D

MGT/216

April 4, 2011

Dan Stark

Ford Pinto Case

In 1968 Ford Motor Company decided to design a small vehicle that would be comparable and competitive to the automobiles its major competitors, the Germans and Japanese, were currently marketing and producing. The decision began a two- year battle between then President Semon Knudsen, Lee Iacocca, and Chief Executive Officer Henry Ford II. Semon wanted to continue making and dominating the middle and large automobile industry where as Lee Iacocca, fresh off of the success of his idea for the Mustang, wanted immediately to tackle and capitalize on the small car market. In the end, Ford not only sided with Iacocca but also forced Semon to resign and Iacocca became the new president of Ford Motor Company.

As a result of this decision, Ford raced to produce a small size vehicle they could put on the market as soon as possible, therefore ignoring and bypassing safety and production regulations. The Ford Pinto was introduced, and in showrooms by 1970.

1. The launch of the Ford Pinto was the shortest time span of production planning in the history of an automobile.

2. Designing, planning, engineering, and testing were done concurrently, which is unheard of in the automotive industry.

3. Crash testing was not performed until the model was completed, duplicated, and on the showroom floor.

4. Ford became aware of the dangers of the gas tank placement but did nothing to altar, or recall the vehicle based on a cost-benefit analysis.

As a result of this negligence, and the haste to produce the Pinto, many deaths occurred that could have been prevented. By the late 1970 there was a great deal of public scrutiny regarding the safety of the Pinto. People had begun to notice that with very low impact from rear-end collisions; the Pinto would burst into flames causing the death of its passengers.

In 1978 Ford became the first corporation to be...