Volvo gets hit with a $1.5 million fine

[nissangirl74]

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/10 ... d+Blogs%29

Volvo Cars North America will have to pay $1.5 million in fines as a result of seven late recalls since 2010. That’s according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which on Tuesday ordered Volvo to pay the civil penalties to settle claims that the company failed to report safety defects in a timely manner

[themadscientist]

Add .5 million for emotional anguish of those forced to see their hideous cars on the road.

[Bubba1]

Add .5 million for emotional anguish of those forced to see their hideous cars on the road.

Then Nissan owes us each at least a cool mill that for putrid Murano Cabriolet.

Didn't Mitsubishi get into similar hot water a few years ago for sweeping failure data under the rug?

[themadscientist]

Nissan owes me for that ridiculous playstation GT-R and killing the Silvia.

[jerryU]

Volvo is a well known company that prides itself on its safety records, but how come they have to do a recall? Now they have to pay a fine of $1.5 million for not performing the recall promptly.

This is really what happened when a company is not doing what it was supposed to.

[NolimitZ32]

This is what happens when a great company gets sold to the Chinese.

[OriginalWheelman]

Volvo is a well known company that prides itself on its safety records, but how come they have to do a recall? Now they have to pay a fine of $1.5 million for not performing the recall promptly.

This is really what happened when a company is not doing what it was supposed to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo

On 28 January 1999 Volvo Group sold its business area Volvo Car Corporation to the Ford Motor Company for US$6.45 billion, with the resulting group largely set on commercial vehicles. Volvo Cars was then sold to China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2010. On 2 January 2001, Renault Véhicules Industriels (which included Mack Trucks, but not Renault's stake in Irisbus) was sold to Volvo, which renamed it Renault Trucks in 2002. As a result, former mother company Renault is AB Volvo's biggest shareholder with a 20% stake (in shares and voting rights).

And companies change hands. Only a fool would think that because the name stays the same, everything else does.

[Bubba1]

This is what happens when a great company gets sold to the Chinese.

Perhaps not. The lack of notification problem began in 2010, which happens to be around the time Ford formally sold Volvo to Geely (the Chinese). It seems possible (just guessing here) that Ford knew about the problem but failed to either properly notify Geely (the buyers) or report it themselves. The incentive being to make sure their deal went thru smoothly without a price adjustment. If that were the case, it might be unfair to point the entire blame at the Chinese for something Ford might have done.

[NolimitZ32]

^ That could very well be but as I would think that any large automaker or holding company would've torn Ford a new one for doing something like this if it was done maliciously and whats more legally would've had the right to. I believe that Ford didn't have a hand in this. It could also easily have been Geely making cuts to quality control and build processes off the bat to save money on their deal on the front end and come out more profitable than forecasted for the year. Obviously this is up for discussion and until someone finds some concrete proof it is up for speculation. I will however until proven otherwise stick to my HYPOTHESIS (that's all it is) that mirroring every other facet of Chinese industry in any sector Geely took some initial shortcuts and is now going to be paying for it.

[OriginalWheelman]

I did some reading on the NHTSA's website:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+ ... 2010,+2012

And downloaded the PDFs. Seems like about half maybe more of the vehicles were produced pre-2010. The problem seems to be that while the company knew about them, no recall notices were issued until a Jan. 10, 2011 inquiry by the NHTSA. It seems like the new owners knew, and didn't do anything about it. The settlement seems to indicate this, as it includes a voluntary restructuring of the administration.

Volvo Cars North America, LLC and its parent company Volvo Car Corporation agreed to make internal changes to its recall decision-making process to ensure timely reporting to consumers and the federal government in the future.

[NolimitZ32]

I stand corrected, but in the world of business (fair or not) I would expect nothing less in the situation, I by no means applaud or condone the actions but c'est la vie.

[OriginalWheelman]

No big deal, I didn't even think to look until you said something. I am so biased after the Cherry crash tests that I assume failure from any Chinese car / car company.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTYw4zHLWwU[/youtube]

[NolimitZ32]

Holy CRAP, I've never seen that and I don't closely follow the Chinese auto industry but I am in construction management and I do follow their building, engineering, design, and QC practices closely and let me tell you I wouldn't be caught dead walking into any structure built in or by China in the last 4 or 5 decades, the crap that passes for "safe" and "acceptable" over there is atrocious

[OriginalWheelman]

What, suddenly bags of trash aren't acceptable construction materials?

[hannibal]

Please tell me that vid is 10 years old. Please!

[OriginalWheelman]

Please tell me that vid is 10 years old. Please!

4

[TurboSauce]

It's called population control.

[asoomal]

Remember, that video isn't in slow motion either.

[NolimitZ32]

OW - lol, it depends on the trash
asoomal - its actually sped up if you look at the midget in the background.

[Jesda]

That genuinely sucks, but Volvo does make some superbly safe cars. Ford's safety ratings went up, WAY up, when they adopted the Volvo S80 platform for their own vehicles.