All manufacturers hope to make their products correctly the first time and quality control is very important. Without good quality control, the company has to pay for manufacturing costs twice, which is not good. All the savings the engineers found on the production is wasted. Many years ago, American auto manufacturing was so bad, Japanese automobile companies rose from the depths of sales. The reputation of American manufacturing took many years to change and billions of dollars in manufacturing and advertising dollars.

In an article by Hyunjoo Jin of Reuters, Tesla recalled 475,000 Model 3 and Model S electric cars to address rear-view camera and trunk issues. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) announced vehicles from 2014 to 2021.

The problem is the camera does not work well because the harness maybe damaged by the opening and closing of the trunk lid preventing the rearview camera image displaying. Drivers have become use to using the cameras rather than the rear view mirror and side mirrors. Car companies introduce new technologies every year and the CES (Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas) is a great example to see what could happen. How people use the technology is what engineers need to determine.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, all companies have manufacturing issues, everything rarely goes perfectly, but if the manufacturing issues become a concern and is material companies have to report the concerns. Fortunately in this case, the operations of the vehicle is not affected, just using some of the features. In this particular case the option is to use the side and rear view mirror, but once we start using a piece of technology we want it to work all the time. Change happens to us all, we expect it, want it, embrace it and complain when is does not meet expectations.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.