Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Top Chinese Automaker Warranty Expenses: Claims jumped but accruals fell. Automotive revenue rose but unit sales declined. The warranty metrics of the top Chinese OEMs are puzzling, and the amount of accruals they each set aside per vehicle sold is impossibly low. Something is just not right with these numbers.
August 1, 2019
Ninth Annual Warranty Report,
Totals & Averages: Warranty expenses rose in 2011, as the recovery continued to take hold. But sales grew a bit faster, and the percentage of revenue used to pay for warranty work fell to record low levels.
March 22, 2012
Computer Industry Warranties: For most of the major players, sales declines caused relative warranty costs to increase. Turmoil in other industries caused a major PC maker to become the biggest warranty provider in the U.S. And for the lucky few, sales rose and warranty costs fell, despite a tough market full of customers still reluctant to spend.
September 17, 2009
Five-Year Warranty Trends, Part Three: Measured in dollars, claims were up by only $400 million last year (+1.4% since 2006) while accruals rose $1.5 billion (+5.5%) since 2006. But Microsoft's Xbox 360 debacle accounted for much of those increases in a year that saw warranty expenses decrease or remain the same for manufacturers in many industries.
April 10, 2008
Top 50 Warranty Providers: Manufacturers spent more than $25 billion last year on warranty claims, but sales rose a bit faster, so claims as a percentage of revenue fell slightly. Most of the top 50, however, saw their claims rates fall more.
May 3, 2005
Warranty Claims: While hundreds of manufacturers have now filed financial reports detailing their warranty activity during the third quarter, it remains unclear why claims rose by more than five percent. Is it a seasonal fluctuation? Or is it proof that the recession is finally behind us? Here's a down payment on the answer, highlighting trends among the top 50 warranty providers.
December 8, 2003