Warranty Week Industry Headlines

U.S. Automakers' Warranty Expenses: Because there were so many big recalls in 2014, the amount spent on warranty soared. Last year, things began to get back to normal, but expense rates are still at elevated levels. Nevertheless, unit sales totals smashed a 15-year-old record in 2015.
January 7, 2016

Warranty Year in Review: While some companies enjoyed record highs on the stock market, others suffered as rising warranty costs cut into profits. Some even went out of business. And top automakers once and for all proved how useless the TREAD Act is when it comes to protecting customers.
January 8, 2015

GM's & Ford's Warranty Adjustments: Both automakers have recently run into trouble, and have had to add hundreds of millions of dollars to their warranty reserve funds to pay for all the unexpected warranty work. But because it's unexpected, it doesn't show up on charts that track only the "regular" warranty accruals.
November 6, 2014

Warranty Accruals per Vehicle: While we can't say who builds a better car, we can figure out which automakers are budgeting for the lowest warranty costs per vehicle. Worldwide, Honda leads and Daimler lags, but the order of the six OEMs between them is somewhat surprising.
July 7, 2011

Service Contract Underwriters: The insurance companies that back service contracts are graded on their financial stability. And while the Detroit Three automakers and some of the other recipients of the TARP bailout billions get relatively low grades, most of the majors remain on the honor roll with an A- or better.
February 11, 2010

Worldwide Auto Warranties, Part One: Why do Japanese automakers and heavy equipment manufacturers seem to have such low warranty costs? Though sales are down since last year, warranty costs remain under control, according to annual reports filed recently by Toyota, Honda, Komatsu and others.
July 2, 2009

Warranty Work: Sometimes you don't know the value of something until it's gone. Automakers measured the value of warranties by their absence. And as retail sales slow and job losses deepen, warranty professionals may appreciate hearing that recruiters are back at work.
January 8, 2009

Worldwide Automotive Warranties: Sure there are good numbers for the U.S.-based automakers, but what about the rest of the world? With a few educated guesses, we're able to estimate the worldwide auto warranty number to be $36.9 billion, roughly 3.4 times U.S. figures alone. But it's different for every size of vehicle, and exchange rate and warranty duration also have an effect.
May 30, 2007

Warranty Reserves: While the average manufacturer spends 1.9% of product revenue on warranty claims and keeps a little over a year's worth of funds in reserve, each industry is different. Computer manufacturers and automakers fund their warranty programs at different levels than telecom or aerospace manufacturers. But in any group, as with any trend, there's always the odd man out.
April 6, 2004

Don't TREAD On Me: Automakers and consumer advocates argue over public disclosure of early warning report data.
April 14, 2003

Don't TREAD On Me: Part 1: Because of the Firestone tire fiasco, automakers must begin compiling quarterly reports on consumer complaints and warranty claims beginning tomorrow.
March 31, 2003