Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Safety Recall - Brakes

I dont fault the factory for having the recall - i do fault them for the delay in providing dealers with a solution . It seems that they have known about this issue now for a month - ref a car finished but "held up" at the factory since May 13th

Get the finger out folks - This is horse and cart speed - where is the Lamborghini speed - or did Massimo leave it behind!!!!!

Yes employee motivation and ethics are very important, I visited the TVR factory just up the road in Blackpool in the 90's, and was quite shocked as when I went around the factory at the attitude of the employees and the rude gestures and pictures drawn on the the underside of all the trim panels being placed in the cars, not visible to the customers until you removed a trim panel. I mentioned it to the Sales Manager who was showing us around and got little reaction almost an acceptance of this wayward employee behaviour. I never bought a TVR as I could tell that problems would be instore as a result of the lack of build quality from disenfranchised employees.

In a previous life, I used to deal with product liability issues.

It's easy to be critical, but it looks to me as if they've investigated the issue and that the immediate steps they took were correct. Now they have to find and implement the fix and learn longer term from the experience.

My guess is that Massimo Fumarola was bought in by the VC guys to do just that - improve the product - as Morgan moves from being a hobbyist to a premium brand. Note that in the press release, he specifically talked about "quality refinement".

I don't buy that Morgan is cynical in any way. If nothing else, the company is passionate about its cars.

I hope there is a lot going on in the background. My experience of product recalls in the B2B sector is that you need to :-
1. Be honest & open about the problem within the organisation & your customers and advise on potential risks. MMC seem to have done that.
2. Over communicate to your customers. I sadly don't see that with MMC after the recall email are communicating at all, hence the deteriorating tone on here about how they are handling it.
3. Set up a task force with regular reviews by a senior manager , typically 1-2 times a day at first. These are short meeting with clear action logs & owners for the actions.
4. Work with the supplier & worry about the cost & blame later.
5. Learn from the issue and redesign business processes to stop a repeat.

You also need a business risk committee that looks at the likelyhood and the damage impact of any possible risk twice a year and what can be done to mitigate it. For example if the wood shop burnt down could MMC insource? Do you they have store copies of design drawings and specs in a separate safe location & a potential supplier identified or is a fire suppression system more relevant.

Hopefully MMC will crack this , learn from it & move on before their customers are lost.

I worked in the brake industry for the first 15 years of my career and was involved in a number of campaign changes.

I recall one where the senior management were under pressure to provide an instant solution and didn't allow time for appropriate testing or validation. The campaign change was carried out 3 times before it was properly fixed as a result of which it dragged on for more than a year. Be careful about wanting quick fixes - brake system changes need to be properly validated and if it was me I would want a permanent fix and not a quick fix.

I am sure that they are working flat out on this and will want to get to a permanent conclusion.

Amen to that

Just called my dealer. I am told MMC will issue a statement in next 24 to 48 hours.

Dealer cagey about saying too much other than repairs will take place over a period of 'weeks' but wouldn't commit as too when the program would start.

Considering the logistical issues they also face, this is not going to happen quickly. If it does, I will be very happy, but not expecting this to be the case.

Two points.....
How much quality built in at the design stage has been done? You design quality in at the early stage as, in the long run, it is a better AND cheaper way. Costs of correction can escalate due to later changes, remedial work ( recalls etc) and brand image and confidence.
There can be arguments between engineers and accountants. One wants engineering excellence and the other reduced costs. Where is the balance?
I remember in my metallurgy days, we had to tip 150t of molten steel out of a ladle onto the floor in the casting bay The nozzle for casting was blocked. I discovered the refractories manager changed the lining to a cheaper one. It reacted to form a high melting point aluminium oxide instead of low one. The solids blocked the nozzle. He was lucky to keep his job for not checking for potential problems.

I wonder how many Plus Fours and Plus Six have been sold by each of the dealers?
When I contacted Berrybrook to book the MoT and annual service for my 4/4, Bradley’s words were:
“We’re extremely busy”
Bud
4/4 - Stanley

I would think that MMC, buying an off the shelf product from an established brake manufacturer (I've been looking recently, and they do stuff for the MG world, Lancia, Jag, kit car stuff from CBS, SVC and also JCB) would have an expectation that all the necessary engineering checks and quality assurance had already been done.

Still keeping everything crossed for a quick fix for those affected.