Case Analysis: Pinto Fires

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Case Analysis: Pinto Fires

Introduction

Greed is the root to evil or at least the motivation behind some corporations making a good, ethical decision. The Ford Motor Company fell into a trap of greed that would cost many human lives. Before the disaster of the Pinto Fires, Ford had a reputation as being the safety pioneer in the automobile industry with additions such as the seat belts. However, as the invention of small cars began to take emerge Ford began to loose market shares to the foreign market. Ford had to do something and quick.

Foreign markets were beginning to show promise with the vehicles that were going to put out on the market. The Ford Motor Company began to feel the pressure and felt that it needed to be in the limelight of the competition. Lee Iococca, the CEO of Ford, decided that it was time for a change and thus the Ford Pinto was introduced. However, the Pinto had numerous flaws that cost the Ford Company more than ever anticipated.

Relevant facts

During the 1960's the demand for sub-compact cars was rising on the market. Ford Motor Company, in competition with the foreign market, decided to introduce the Ford Pinto. The Ford Pinto was going to be the new wave for the Ford Company, but it was soon discovered that numerous problems existed. For example, the time that it took to manufacture an automobile was down from three and a half years to just over two years. Before production, however, the engineers at Ford discovered a major flaw in the cars design. In nearly all rear-end crash test collisions the Pinto's fuel system would rupture extremely easily (The Ford Pinto, n.d.). Other problems that were discovered compounded the problem that caused the fires. These included the gas tank being about six inches from the flimsy bumpers, the backend not containing rear sub frame members, and doors tending to jam shut in an accident. The fuel filler tube was prone to separate and create spillage (Alfred, n.d.).

When it was discover that the gas tank was unsafe, no one bothered to tell Lee Iacocca about the flaws. One engineer was quoted as saying, "Hell no, we didn't tell him. That person would have been fired. Safety wasn't a popular subject around Ford in those days.

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