Ford Pinto Case Study
In the late 1960’s Ford Motor Company was losing market share to competing car companies from Japan and Germany. Lee Iacocca, Executive Vice President, planned to produce, a new subcompact car called the Pinto. Iacocca’s plan was to build a car that was below 2,000 pounds, would sell for no more than $2,000, and would be delivered to the market in a record time of less than 25 months.
One of the challenges that Ford was confronted with was the placement of gas tank. The typical gas tank in other Ford models which was proven effective and safe was installed over the rear end differential. Ford, however, as pointed out in the below illustration, chose to install the gas tank in the back of the rear end differential to provide more trunk space. This demonstrated that styling was more important then engineering design and safety.
There is substantial evidence that the Ford Pinto design integrity was vulnerable in rear end accidents. Preferred method in Japan and Europe was to place the gas tank over the rear differential. However, the Pinto gas tank was installed in the back of the rear end differential. Furthermore, the bumper was nothing but a small thin chrome strip, which was much more vulnerable then the bumpers on any other subcompact and mid size car. In addition, in absence of the reinforced members, the Pinto lacked structural reinforcement which made the Pinto car less crush resistant compared to other cars in this segment. Lastly, the differential housing edges and bolts were exposed so when the Ford Pinto was hit in the rear end accident the gas tank upon being crushed against the rear differential was punctured by the protruding bolts.
When Ford engineers tested the Pinto model, they found when the automobile was struck from the rear at 20 miles per hour, the gas tank rupture, the fuel ignite from sparks and