Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Worldwide Auto Warranty Expenses: Most auto manufacturers have filed their latest annual reports, so the totals are in for 2021: $45.9 B in claims paid, a 2.4% claims rate, $54.0 B in accruals made, a 2.8% accrual rate, $128.4 B in reserves held, and $653 in accruals made per vehicle sold. Claims and accrual totals changed little last year, but because sales rebounded in 2021, the expense rates fell.
October 6, 2022
Nineteenth Annual Product Warranty Report: While the erratic nature of accruals continued in 2021, claims totals remained stable. But warranty reserves hit a new record high late in the year, and expense rates briefly set a new low record early in the year. Manufacturer's warranty expenses are sorted into 18 industries and three major sectors: vehicles, electronics, and building trades.
March 24, 2022
Mid-Year HVAC & Appliance Warranty Metrics: The totals and averages are moving in response to the ups and downs of the top manufacturers. But they didn't move much in response to the pandemic or the lockdowns that follows. At the same time, for at least one top home improvements retailer, the extended warranty business is booming.
October 21, 2021
European Automaker Warranty Expenses, Part 2: In this latest part of a worldwide roundup of automaker warranty expense totals and averages, we find that VW has always had the highest costs, while the French companies have always had the lowest. This doesn't correlate well with either customer perceptions or reliability trends, but facts are facts, while opinions are subject to bias (and advertising).
May 27, 2021
Worldwide Aviation Warranty Expense Report: If you assumed that warranty expenses in the aviation industry is proportional to market share, you'd be way off. Companies with comparable market-leading sales totals have vastly different warranty costs, and some of the leaders in certain metrics have much smaller market shares in sales.
August 6, 2020
U.S. Auto OEM Warranty Expenses: Now that the second-quarter financial reports are all in, we take a look at the warranty metrics of the U.S.-based industry that manufactures cars, trucks, buses, and all sorts of other vehicles, both large and small. And while the overall totals and averages didn't shift much, some companies saw big changes in their warranty costs.
September 5, 2019
Computer Industry Warranty Report: Though the totals and averages are declining, we can't be sure it isn't caused primarily by all the companies going private or getting acquired by non-reporting parents, and thereby dropping from the list of warranty expense report providers.
May 2, 2019
Sixteenth Annual Product Warranty Report: Warranty costs are rising but sales are rising faster, meaning that the percentage of revenue consumed by warranty expenses remains at the low end of a decade-long decline. But can expense rates go even lower, or are we at the bottom now? A look at the totals and averages in 2018.
March 21, 2019
Nine-Month Warranty Expense Data: While vehicle and building trade warranty expenses continue more or less unchanged, high-tech electronic warranty spending is still falling. And a new accounting rule is forcing companies to separate break/fix warranties from sales returns, reducing some expense totals significantly.
December 13, 2018
Worldwide Construction Equipment Warranties: Sales took a big jump in 2017, and so did warranty expenses. But the increases were more or less proportional, which means the warranty expense rates remained about the same. However, the industry's claims and accrual totals are still a bit below their pre-recession peak levels.
November 8, 2018
Aerospace Warranty Expense Report: Because one major airframe manufacturer has now separated its warranty and extended warranty accounts, the aerospace industry totals and averages are in disarray. However, many OEMs and suppliers continue to cut their warranty costs, setting new record lows for their expense rates.
April 13, 2017
Automotive Warranty Expense Report: While the individual manufacturers see their claims, accrual, and sales totals change up and down from year to year, some long-term trends are also evident. The carmakers are cutting costs the most and the longest, while the powertrain manufacturers are falling behind other types of suppliers.
March 30, 2017
Power Generation & Material Handling Equipment Warranty Report: While the overall totals and averages don't change by much from year to year, some of the individual companies in these industries are seeing their warranty expenses rise and fall dramatically.
June 2, 2016
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
Telecom Equipment Warranty Report: As the old guard making landline phone equipment declines, the makers of data communication equipment and smartphones are accounting for an increasing share of the industry's warranty expenses. Still, there's been an overall decline in both the expense totals and the expense rates.
May 22, 2014
Tenth Annual Warranty Report,
Totals & Averages: The automotive manufacturers are cutting their warranty expenses while the computer makers are seeing higher costs. But put them together, and they're paying the smallest percentage of their revenue ever for warranty work on their products.
March 21, 2013
Computer OEM Warranty Metrics: There are multiple ways to look at the same statistics. And there are multiple ways to gauge cost-cutting, consistency, and accuracy with warranty totals and estimates. In different ways, using different metrics, Apple, HP and Dell are each leading their industry.
December 13, 2012
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
Eighth Annual Warranty Report,
Totals & Averages: When sales fell, so did warranty costs. But even though sales are rising again, warranty costs are remaining low as a percent of sales. That reflects a change in reliability, and caps a multi-year success story resulting from the increased attention paid to warranties.
April 1, 2011
Telecom Equipment Warranties: Though the totals are down because of all the industry players that have headed for the exits, those who remain are also cutting their warranty expenses. And claims have never been lower as a percentage of sales.
December 23, 2010
Seventh Annual Warranty Report,
Totals & Averages: Claims are down. But accruals are down by more, and it looks like they're down by more than they should be. Ten charts provide a snapshot of the warranty landscape as manufacturers enter the recovery phase.
April 8, 2010
Annual Warranty Totals & Averages: While claims were up slightly in 2008, both warranty reserves and accruals actually plunged last year. And as sales fall, the percentage of product revenue spent on claims has risen. With no less than 21 charts, we detail the industry totals and averages for the past six years.
May 7, 2009
Warranty Claims & Accruals: In some industries, warranty claims and accrual rates move together in parallel. In others, they each seem to have a mind of their own. This week we take a look at nine months of warranty claims totals and the percentages of sales they represent in nine different industries.
December 15, 2003