Toyota has the most vehicles on the newly released Vehicle Safety Watch List by The Safety Institute.
As lawmakers, federal agencies and automakers bandy about ways to better track potential product defects in cars and trucks, one watchdog group already assembled an early warning list of problems – and it’s dominated by Toyota, Ford and General Motors.
The Safety Institute, a non-profit organization that monitors product safety issues and trends, released its first, quarterly Vehicle Safety Watch List of potential, safety related defects today.
At the top of the first-ever list was the 2012 Ford Focus for steering issues. The same vehicle is also number three on the list for electrical issues. Toyota has nine vehicles on the list, although they’re various model years of the Sienna minivan, RAV4 and its best-selling Camry. General Motors also has three vehicles on the list: the 2011 and 2012 Chevy Cruze plus the 2007 GMC Yukon.
In all, the list features 15 vehicles with potential issues or existing problems. It also chronicles whether or not there is an ongoing investigation, a recall or no action whatsoever.
The quarterly list, which is sponsored by Lance Cooper, an attorney representing one of the families suing General Motors over its defective ignition switches, is a product of the Institute’s Vehicle Safety Watch List Analytics and NHTSA Enforcement Monitoring Program. The data used in the compilation of the list is drawn from a variety sources, including: NHTSA consumer complaints, manufacturer-reported Early Warning Reports on deaths and injuries and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
“Thoughtfully applying analytic tools to available data on motor vehicle problems will help direct resources to problems in advance of crises. This much-needed program will provide important guidance for NHTSA, industry, attorneys and the public” said Sean Kane, founder and president of the board of directors of The Safety Institute.
“Instead of NHTSA’s actions probed in occasional Congressional hearings, The Safety Institute’s reports will provide regular review of the agency’s enforcement activities and how well it is doing. It’s long overdue.”
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The list will be publicly accessible, according to the group, and help anyone who wants to understand:
• Emerging safety problems,
• How the NHTSA’s investigative choices correlate to safety problems reported by automakers and consumers,
• How well NHTSA is enforcing the recall requirements.
While the exact methodology behind the list may not be globally accepted by automakers, it doesn’t mean that some of the data used it isn’t already being reviewed by companies.
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Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, said earlier today that the maker hasn’t changed its approach in handling possible vehicle defects and the need for recalls. He believes the high number of recalls shows automakers are acting prudently to ensure consumer safety.
“With what’s transpired (in recent months), there’s a higher level of scrutiny” across the industry, he said.
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While many look at the dizzying number of recalls as a sign of poor quality or lackadaisical attitudes about consumer safety, Hinrichs believes the recalls reflect the opposite.
“There is so much data out there you can act very quickly to protect your customers. There is a lot more data to work with in real time,” he said.