ecutives. Although I am not qualified to discuss this subject in great detail, I should like to offer a few general comments in concluding my statement. The quality problems of the automobile industry today stem, in some measure, from the same causes as do our service problems: To meet sharp increases in demand for new cars, it was necessary to expand employment at a time when manpower resources were limited. These economic conditions have led to high levels of employee turnover and absenteeism and to increased human error in our plants. Our customers have demanded a growing variety of increasingly complex vehicles and these demands have made today's automobile far more susceptible to failure than the automobile of the past. Senator Moss, you raised a question about the correlation between the price of the car and the number of failures. If there is a correlation, it is probably inverse. To the extent a man buys an expensive car, installs air conditioning, power brakes, power steering, the great complex of options, there is more vulnerability to failure. I think if you look at the record, to the extent that you find differences by car line, there is no correlation at all from price class down. I think your observation on the basis of what you have seen is one we would confirm in our experience. If anything, the correlation is in the direction that we have more complaints the more complex the vehicle is, the more equipment that is on it. We believe that the substantial expenditures made by our company to improve quality control are producing significant results today. We anticipate that quality problems associated with a rapid expansion of production and shortages in the labor market will be alleviated considerably as the economy returns to a more normal rate of growth. There is also growing evidence to suggest that those automobile buyers who are concerned primarily with a high level of reliability can and will achieve their objectives in the free market. Ford's new Maverick was designed to appeal to customers with such interests; it has met with marked success. Foreign cars that have been characteristically less complex than domestic cars are attaining a growing share of the domestic car market. The Congress can be assured that the automobile industry's future product programs will be designed to meet this competition. The Federal Trade Commission has advised the Congress that "The time has come for warranty and quality control in this industry to be established by the public through Government action rather than by the automobile manufacturers." It is Ford's opinion that the public can and has succeeded in establishing the standards it wishes to see met in the automobile industry through the actions it takes in extending or withholding patronage. This very direct form of communication has required that manufacturers be both efficient and responsive if they are to survive. In Ford's opinion, communication between the consumer and the manufacturer would not be enhanced by installing a government agency charged with the responsibility for transmitting the requirements of one to the other. This concludes Ford Motor Co.'s statement. Thank you for permitting us to express our views on these very important problems. (The balance of Mr. Nevin's statement follows.) |