Takata

One song says love changes everything, and so does money. Corruption is rife in the world today and money is so often the motivation. Even human life can be a secondary consideration in the quest to gain or protect money.



Cars are convenient but also dangerous. Safety features are important to consumers and modern cars are full of  such life saving features. I find some such as lane departure warning as quite laughable but most are welcome additions. I must say as one who has always used seat belts I thought airbags were for Americans too lazy to buckle up (no offense intended). However, they do add to occupant safety so I've been won over.

Which leads to the point of the article. Japanese firm Takata changed the main ingredient for its airbags from tetrazole to ammonium nitrate in 2001. Ammonium nitrate provides more bang in a smaller volume than other propellants, which allows the company to offer a more compact device to manufacturers. It was also cheaper to make. However, they have in a few cases caused death by exploding and sending pieces of the device into the car's occupants.

Employee emails show that there were “dire warnings about safety and quality lapses years before Takata Corp would fully acknowledge the threat posed by its defective airbags,” according to a report by the Senate Commerce Committee. Senator Bill Nelson, a Floridan Democrat, says it now appears that Takata was aware of “serious safety and quality control lapses” in its factories as early as 2001.

Company officials debated the data regarding the product and testing of the inflator was manipulated to cover the issues. Nissan, BMW of North America and Ford have accused their airbag supplier Takata of fraud in a lawsuit to cover losses they incur because of its faulty inflators that have been linked to at least 17 deaths worldwide. Court documents filed in United States claim five automakers were aware of potential defects but continued using Takata’s airbags because they were less expensive. The allegations involve Ford, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and BMW.

All in all a sad tale of a business trying to get a competitive edge but getting it wrong and trying to cover it over. Did they really think they would get away with it? The cost of owning up would have been huge. It got worse by not coming clean. Money changes everything.

Global Premium Comparison Wrap Up : 2010-16

It was a mammoth series and showed how far ahead the BAM brands are, if you didn't already know. Things are changing as things always do. Mercedes Benz passed the BMW brand (but not Group), the US trio (Cadillac, Lincoln and Tesla) all went well. JLR continued thier remarkable transformation.

So was there a star performance worth noting above all else? I pick Jaguar. A 77.1% increase is a testament to how well the company is being managed at the moment. For too long it was under performing but the 'Leaping Cat' is back.

If you want to review all the series by nation, just click on the country below.

For the full series:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Israel,
Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Portugal, RSA, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA.

Global Premium Comparison (Brand) : 2010-16

The series on premium car sales by nation has been concluded. Now for the global overview. How has each company done in a total market that has grown 7.6%?

BAM Brands: BMW/Mini took a quarter of all sales, although a 5.3% increase in sales was below the 7.6% globally. Mini was up 6/4% against BMW's 5.2%. Mercedes-Benz sales were up a strong 11.3% and that pushed it just passed the BMW brand. However, MINI ensured the Stuttgart marque is still second best. Audi's modest 3.8% rise for the VW marque had it losing ground to the two leading German brands. Still a confortable third globally.

The Others: Lexus had the same increase as Audi which had it also losing share slightly. JLR passed Volvo into 5th spot with a 19.8% increase. Jaguar's 77% spurt was the key ingredient. Volvo had a solid 6.2% gain, and should gather momentum with new models.

Of the rest, Cadillac, Lincoln and Tesla all exceeded the market in terms of growth while my estimate figure for Acura (accurate I assure you) made it the only marque in retreat. Alfa Romeo is about to take off and the 14.9% for 2016 is a sign of things to come.

	14	15	Make	2016	%	+/-
	1	1	BMW Gr	2,363,600	25.2%	5%
			BMW	2,003,400	21.3%	5%
			MINI	360,200	3.8%	6%
	2	2	Mercedes	2,083,900	22.2%	11%
	3	3	Audi	1,871,300	19.9%	4%
	4	4	Lexus	677,000	7.2%	4%
	6	5	JLR	583,300	6.2%	20%
			Land Rover	434,600	4.6%	8%
			Jaguar	148,700	1.6%	77%
	5	6	Volvo	534,300	5.7%	6%
	7	7	Cadillac	308,700	3.3%	11%
	8	8	Porsche	237,800	2.5%	6%
	9	9	Infiniti	230,000	2.5%	7%
	10	10	Acura	194,000	2.1%	-6%
	11	11	Lincoln	155,000	1.7%	26%
	12	12	Tesla	76,200	0.8%	51%
	13	13	Alfa Romeo	70,000	0.7%	15%
			Total	9,385,100		8%

Summary: The premium arena is no longer easy pickings for the BAM marques. Others are coming back with gusto but they will not hand over market share without a fight. I see 'pricing realignments' as the battle heats up.

Text source: RayCee.