You know that I'm always on the side of the automobile, that I'm positive and try to defend its industry, but... sometimes the brands really mess things up! We've talked about dangerous cars, cars that were a financial disaster, but today it's time to talk about scandals.
#cars #scandals
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/ garaje hermético
I've been wanting to make this video for a while... but I had reservations. And I've decided that no, things need to be told. Being in favor of the automotive world does not mean 'swallowing anything'. And honestly, there are scandals that have done a lot of damage to the image of the automotive industry and to the automobile itself.
Ford Pinto: For 11 dollars. (1974)
Let's put it in context. The Ford Pinto could be described as a USA-style Fiesta. A pretty, practical, and affordable car. So far, so good. The bad news is that in rear-end collisions, the American NHTSA, something like their EuroNCAP, discovered that the pretty Pinto had a certain tendency to catch fire. If you think that was the end of the scandal, you're wrong. The scandal erupted when it was revealed that Ford already knew about the problem and that the parts that should have been changed to avoid it cost... 11 dollars. But it went further, as a document was discovered in which Ford's legal experts said it was cheaper to pay compensation than to solve the problem.
Mercedes A-Class: The Moose Test (1997)
In those years, a group of magazines including the Swedish Vi Bilägare popularized a dodging test they called the 'Moose Test', because there, encountering a moose is relatively common. It's a zigzag at 60 km/h. Mercedes was working on its first popular front-wheel drive car and when they presented it to the press and did the moose test... they ended up rolling over.
Firestone: 203 deaths (1998)
Tires are key to safety... and to insecurity. In 1998, the Ford Explorers, powerful and heavy pick-ups, were equipped with Firestone tires in two models, the Radial ATX I and the Wilderness AT. The problem was a trifle: The tread would come off, and the tire would burst.
Ferrari and McLaren: Espionage (2006)
Let's talk about fun stuff! For example, F1 and espionage... And I assure you it's fun... and stupid. Nigel Stepney was Ferrari's track manager and was replaced by Luca Baldisseri. Upset, Nigel took some plans of the future Ferrari with the idea of giving them to Mike Coughlan, McLaren's chief designer.
General Motors: 'Auto Shut-off' (2006)
If in 2006 you had a Chevrolet Cobalt or a Pontiac G5, among others, it could happen that, unexpectedly, without warning, the engine would stop as if you had turned off the ignition. In reality, it was because, due to faulty locks, the ignition had been turned off.
Toyota: Defective Accelerators (2009)
Do you think 2.6 million is a lot? Well, Toyota recalled 10 million cars! The 'little problem' was that the car would accelerate on its own. Toyota argued that it was a problem with non-original mats with which the accelerator got caught and other fanciful ideas.
Volvo S60: Ridiculous (2010)
Imagine a presentation to the entire international press of a safety system called City Safety that supposedly prevented the car from crashing into any kind of obstacle. In the presentation, the car was launched against a truck and the car, very smartly, should have braked. But the reality is that it crashed and had a spectacular slap.
Ferrari 458 Italia: 'Flaming' (2010)
Imagine that you buy the car of your dreams, a brand new and beautiful Ferrari 458 Italia worth several hundred thousand euros... so far so good. But one day you push the car hard on a highway or on a track and after stopping, shortly after, you see a little smoke coming from the engine... in a few seconds the smoke is a column and in a few more seconds, your beautiful car is in flames.
Takata: Absolute Record (2013)
34 million cars from 10 different brands were affected by these airbags! What was wrong with them? Almost nothing. Simply, they broke when inflating and instead of cushioning the blow, they threw shrapnel at the driver's face. It's surprising that there are only 100 injured and 8 deaths, but there are so many cars that, surely, this problem will never be completely fixed.
VW: The 'Dieselgate' (2015)
What did this trick consist of? It's very simple: The car had software that detected when the car was undergoing a test and changed the settings to pass the test. And when it detected that it was in normal use, the car ran faster, used less fuel and expelled, hold on, up to 40 times more CO2 than allowed."