Case 10: Ford’s Pinto Fires:

                                                                                                                                                                SABITA BARAL

Case 10: Ford’s Pinto Fires: The Retrospective view of Ford’s Recall Coordinator

Ford motor company, North America’s subcompact automobile company; design Pinto in 1971 in order to compete with fuel efficient Volkswagen and Japanese imports. Pinto’s major design flaw- a fuel tank prone to rupturing with moderate speed rear-end collisions- surfaced not too long after the Pinto’s entrance to the market. In April 1974, the Center for Auto Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall Ford Pintos due to the fuel tank design defects. As a result of tests performed of NHTSA, as well as the extraordinary amount of publicity generated by the problem, Ford Motor Company agreed to recall Ford Pintos.

Dennis A. Gioia was the field recall coordinator at Ford Motor Company as the Pinto fuel tank defect began unfolding. Gioia responsibilities include the operational coordination of all the current recall campaigns, tracking incoming information to identify developing problems, and reviewing field reports of alleged components failures that led to accidents.