Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

U.S. Auto Warranty Metrics: In 2019, warranty metrics improved for Tesla and deteriorated for GM and Ford. While Tesla still sets aside the most funds per unit sold to finance future warranty costs, its current claims rate is one of the lowest in the business. And while GM and Ford spend less per vehicle, their vehicles also cost less, and their costs have been rising for several years in a row.
March 5, 2020
American Auto Warranty Expenses: While General Motors continues to recover from its massive ignition switch recall of 2014, the warranty expenses of Ford are creeping upward. Tesla, meanwhile, is in the strange position of having the lowest claims rate and the highest accrual rate in the U.S.-based portion of this industry.
July 18, 2019
Apple's Warranties & Service Contracts: While AppleCare is still the biggest extended warranty program in the world, it hasn't grown much in years. And while Apple is spending more on product warranties than either GM or Ford, that's not growing either. No wonder investors are spooked by the company's future prospects.
November 15, 2018
US Automaker Warranty Report: GM takes the lead as its warranty cost per vehicle dips below $300, allowing it to take a whopping $1.3 billion out of its reserve fund. Ford remains steady while Tesla still has unusually high warranty expenses. And GM is now third on the list of top warranty providers based in the U.S.
March 8, 2018
U.S. & European Auto OEM Warranty Report: While Volkswagen and Fiat have seen their warranty costs rise significantly in recent years, BMW, Daimler and Tesla have driven their expense rates down. And somewhere in the middle this year are Ford and GM.
April 6, 2017
U.S. Truck & Auto OEM Warranty Report: While falling sales drive Navistar's claims rate upwards, Paccar finds ways to cut warranty costs. And both GM and Ford continue to report some of the lowest warranty cost per vehicle metrics in the world, while Tesla gets its warranty costs under control.
July 21, 2016
Asian Auto Warranty Report: Honda sees its warranty costs soar because of air bag recalls, forcing it to set aside more money for warranty work than GM and Ford combined. Meanwhile, Toyota, Tata, and Hyundai struggle to maintain steady warranty expense rates for their nameplates.
July 7, 2016
Declining Accruals in Detroit: This news can't wait for summer: Ford and General Motors set aside less in warranty accruals per vehicle sold last year than ever before. Thanks to a well-timed coincidence of rising sales, falling warranty costs, rising reliability, and reduced recalls, the top two passenger car and light truck makers in Detroit are cutting their warranty expenses to just a few hundred dollars per vehicle sold.
February 25, 2016
Chrysler's & Tesla's Warranty Adjustments: Compared to GM and Ford, their recent mid-course corrections to their warranty expense rates are modest. But for others, the relative size of these adjustments compared to regular accruals can be an early warning indicator of trouble ahead.
November 13, 2014
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: Though currency fluctuations are a major factor, in 2013 both GM and Ford accrued less per vehicle sold than any of the European or Japanese OEMs. And though BMW and Daimler command a higher price per vehicle, they've accrued less and less per unit over the past decade as they continue to cut warranty costs.
July 17, 2014
Automotive OEM Warranty Report: While warranty expenses are down significantly among vehicle makers as a group, the real progress has been made primarily by Ford and GM.
April 17, 2014
Warranty Accruals per Vehicle: The German OEMs still have the highest warranty costs worldwide, but the Japanese carmakers are no longer unopposed at the bottom. Both Fiat and Ford are cutting their warranty costs to within range of longtime low-cost leader Honda. And Toyota is well on its way to getting back to normal.
July 11, 2013
Warranty Cost per Vehicle: When it comes time to budget for warranty work, corporate planners apparently expect a Ford to cost twice as much as a Honda; a Fiat to cost twice as much as a Ford; and a Mercedes to cost twice as much as a Fiat. Currencies play a role in their planning, but so does selling price, parts cost and local labor rates.
July 12, 2012
Automotive Warranty Report: While suppliers seem to have gotten a reprieve from escalating pressure to pay a greater share of warranty costs, OEMs are enjoying fast sales growth and a return to old levels. Meanwhile, Ford has decided to begin reporting warranty and recall costs together.
April 5, 2012
Auto OEM Accruals per Vehicle: Measured as a percentage of revenue or as an amount of money set aside per vehicle sold, warranty accruals have declined dramatically for Ford and GM. Some warranty metrics even put Ford slightly ahead of Toyota, though Honda remains the low-cost champ.
July 8, 2010
Automotive Warranties: GM and Ford are cutting their warranty expenses and closing the gap with both their competitors and their suppliers. And it's beginning to get some notice in the daily newspapers. Truck makers aren't as lucky, but their year-ago figures weren't as dreadful.
June 3, 2010
Ford's Warranty Costs: Figures presented at the Warranty Chain Management Conference last week showed a massive drop in the automaker's warranty expenses. But that had much to do with the accounting for the soon-to-be-sold Jaguar and Land Rover divisions. Still, even after adjusting year-ago figures to account for that impending sale, Ford's warranty costs are down significantly.
March 12, 2008
Aerospace Warranties: In this industry, there doesn't seem to be a wide gap between the claims paid by aircraft makers and their suppliers, as is the case with cars and computers. In this respect, the makers of Boeing, Cessna, and Gulfstream aircraft are different from Ford, GM, HP, and Dell.
October 2, 2007
Ford's Powertrain Warranties: How does a carmaker get people talking about product quality and confidence? By lengthening the warranty on the engine and transmission. But it didn't work so well for Chrysler, so why should it work for Ford?
July 25, 2006
Automotive Warranties: While GM and Ford spend the most on warranty, other types of vehicle manufacturers pay out a greater share of their total revenue on claims. And while most parts suppliers have relatively low claims rates, those in the aftermarket report some of the highest rates of all.
April 25, 2006
Top 50 Warranty Providers: While most large manufacturers saw warranty claims rise in 2005, most also saw sales gains that helped relieve the pain. Even GM and Ford saw only modest upticks in the percentage of sales they pay in claims. And some such as Boeing saw claims plummet.
April 19, 2006
Automotive Warranties: As seen by its third quarter financial statements, Ford is catching up to GM, both in terms of revenue and warranty spending. Ford has now become only the second American manufacturer to ever pay out $1 billion or more in warranty claims per quarter. Meanwhile, other U.S.-based vehicle manufacturers have their own warranty ups and downs to report.
November 15, 2005
Warranty Analysis: Rather than becoming another "accidental" warranty software vendor, SAS Institute was driven into the market by customers such as GM and Ford.
August 16, 2005
Auto Warranties: It's not just Ford and GM. There are numerous other types of vehicles, and numerous automotive suppliers to those OEMs who each have their own characteristics when it comes to warranty claims and accrual rates.
September 8, 2004
Automotive Warranties: Ford and GM are not only the largest providers of automotive warranty. They're also paying a higher percentage of their revenue in claims than everyone but the makers of RVs and rider mowers.
April 13, 2004
Ford's Warranty Reserves: Standard & Poor's cut Ford Motor Company's credit rating from BBB to BBB-, citing write-offs at Ford Europe, reduced warranty accruals, and lowered reserves for bad loans by Ford Credit. But were those reduced warranty accruals justified by reduced claims costs?
November 17, 2003
GM's Warranty Reserves:  Both GM and Ford made sizeable withdrawals from their reserve funds during the second quarter. GM cited increased product quality. But analysts said the move lowered earnings quality. Ford said nothing, and nothing was said. What's behind the changes of estimate?
August 18, 2003
Motown Breakdown: Auto supply glut could drive Detroit into unprofitability, Ford seen as the most vulnerable of the Big Three.
March 17, 2003