Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Building Materials Warranty Report: The warranty expenses of most companies in this industry are reasonably steady and predictable. Charts for both the total expenses and the average expense rates are fairly flat, compared to most industries.
June 11, 2020
International Heavy Equipment Warranties: Compared to U.S. market leaders, the top Japanese and European makers of mining, construction and farm equipment have generally lower warranty expense rates. But that seems to have more to do with the way they divide their revenue into warranted and non-warranted sources than it does with the actual warranty expenses.
July 23, 2015
Auto Parts Supplier Warranty Report: Compared to the automotive OEMs, the suppliers have kept their warranty costs low and ytheir expense rates stable. And while some saw costs drift upwards last year, on average the group remained about the same, as they have for the last few years.
April 9, 2015
Chrysler's & Tesla's Warranty Adjustments: Compared to GM and Ford, their recent mid-course corrections to their warranty expense rates are modest. But for others, the relative size of these adjustments compared to regular accruals can be an early warning indicator of trouble ahead.
November 13, 2014
Semiconductor Industry Warranty Report: In no other industry is the factory machinery so costly, and so expensive to maintain. And nowhere else does the output of the factory have such low warranty expense rates, compared to the machinery used to make it. It's as if the factory owners have shifted much of their warranty costs onto their equipment suppliers.
May 15, 2014
Warranty Maturity Model: Now that three companies have put themselves through the self-assessment and compared notes, it's time to widen the offer to additional manufacturing companies. Next month, the three companies will present case studies at the WCM Conference in Orlando.
February 9, 2012
Warranty Adjustments, Part 3: While all exporters must deal with foreign exchange fluctuations, some companies seem to be affected more than others. In fact, when compared to other warranty metrics, some of these fluctuations are huge. Is that caused by the unique nature of their businesses, or is it a sign of sloppy warranty accounting?
November 10, 2011
Sports Equipment Warranties: Everything from StairMasters to snowmobiles carries product warranties, and cost their manufacturers a significant amount of money for warranty work. But compared to the billions spent by GM, HP and others, it's easy to overlook their corner of the warranty industry.
December 11, 2008
Top 100 Warranty Providers: Compared to a year ago, much has changed in terms of warranty claims, accruals, and reserves. Key ratios suggest that some companies are enjoying vastly reduced repair costs thanks to quality gains. However, for the largest manufacturers, the percentage of sales they spend on warranty hasn't changed much.
September 5, 2008
Top 100 Warranty Providers: While manufacturers' warranty costs shouldn't be compared directly against one another, they can be compared against themselves over time. And when one looks at those with the biggest percentage increases and decreases, one sees the biggest warranty winners and losers of the past year.
January 10, 2008
Mid-Year Warranty Report: Numerous companies continue to fine-tune their warranty spending, reacting to claims rate fluctuations by modifying accruals. While warranty spending by one company can't be compared to another's, we can compare a company to itself over time, by way of a series of top ten lists.
August 15, 2007
Top 100 Warranty Providers: In this midyear report, we look at who's up and who's down compared to a year ago. Driven by acquisitions and longer warranties, some companies are paying out more than ever before. But others have found ways to cut their outlays by big numbers.
September 26, 2006
Automotive Warranty: The Big Three feel the bite of increased warranty costs in the first quarter just as sales begin to fall. But how can companies be compared over time if their accounting standards and even their currencies are different?
May 24, 2005