Ford Pinto
What happened to the Ford Pinto? Ford Motor Company had intended to compete with other automobiles on the market that were smaller and used less gas. But something went terribly wrong along the way. This paper explores the details that led ultimately to the demise of the Ford Pinto -- and to the deaths and injuries of innocent consumers.
Why was the Pinto developed in the first place? Ford Motor Company was seeing strong competition from Volkswagen -- and from other compact-style cars such as the Chevrolet Vega, AMC's Gremlin, the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Cricket -- in the late 1960s, and the company wanted to get into that market. The television commercial that Ford produced opened up with a wide angle shot of a lush green open field. In that field is a very cute pinto colt that stands up a bit shakily. "Meet the Pinto," the male voice announces. "Just born." The pinto bounds forward in slow motion. As the camera pans along with the bounding colt, the Ford Pinto comes into full view (YouTube).
"Pinto, the new little carefree car from Ford. Drives like a small economy import, but you'd never know that to look at it." The narrator explains that the car gets 25 miles per gallon, "But it's frisky," he adds. "With a wider stance than any little import, so you won't be pushed around by the wind." As the commercial ends, the automobile is riding in the background while the pinto colt gallops in the foreground, in sync with the car. "Pinto, a little carefree car to put a little kick on your life," the announcer continues.
What consumers didn't know as they watched the television commercial, was the "little kick" the advertising extolled turned out to be a deadly blast for many unsuspecting drivers. But those details will come later in the paper. The last written (and spoken) words on the screen are eerily linked to a horrendous even that would happen in the future: "Coming September 11."
What were some of the successes of the Pinto?
First of all, Ford built many thousands of Pintos in the years between 1971 and 1980. In 1971 Ford built 352,402; in 1972 Ford built 480,405; in 1973 Ford built 484,512; 1974 was the year Ford built the most Pintos (544,209). The numbers tapered off after 1974 due to the bad publicity and slower sales. In all, Ford produced about 3.5 million Pintos, according to the Encyclopedia of American Cars (howstuffworks.com).
The Pinto came in 15 colors, including "Model T. Black," and it went through an impressive primer solution application with "an electrostatic charge" that allowed application of paint with better adhesion" (Consumer Guide). By 1971, "California dealers were reporting sales" of the Pinto that equaled "17.8% of all import sales," and Ford was eager to cut into imports (Consumer Guide). Customers loved the Pinto and in less than five months Ford had delivered 100,000 Pintos (the 100,000th was delivered to S & C. Motors in San Francisco.
Describe the company culture that led to the scandal
In the 1960s, Ford's Lee Iacocca -- executive vice president in charge of Ford's North American Vehicle Operations -- was already a powerful force with the company because he had been the lead person in the development of the Ford Mustang, a hugely popular car. By 1967, many felt that Iacocca was next in line to become president of Ford, but when that position came open, "Henry Ford II surprised nearly everyone in the industry" by choosing Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen. Knudsen had worked for General Motors and was not at all in sync with Iacocca, according to Consumer Guide.
The tension between the two executives was obvious to others working at Ford. "Cold shoulders were commonplace on the upper floors" of the Ford building in Dearborn, Michigan, and moreover, the new president was totally opposed to building a subcompact car (Consumer Guide). It was Iacocca's idea that the company needed to build a car to compete with imported cars, and Iacocca pushed hard to talk Henry Ford II into going ahead with the Pinto. In 1969, Henry Ford II agreed to build the Pinto, and soon thereafter Iacocca got the real prize he coveted, the presidency of Ford.
According to Robert Sherefkin, writing in Automotive News, Iacocca had not had a lot of experience working on new car designs, starting from scratch (Sherefkin, 2003, p. 1). Sherefkin adds that Iacocca had a "don't-bother-me-with-trifles haughtiness toward technicians," and moreover, Iacocca was in a big hurry to get the Pinto into the...
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