Automotive reliability prediction based on early field failure warranty data

This paper provides a reliability prediction method to identify vehicle components that have the potential to become actionable items (such as a recall decision) based on their early field failure (4 or 5 months in service) warranty data. The vehicle customer mileage distribution from the warranty database is also discussed utilizing a mathematical model known as the lognormal distribution. The applicability of the above prediction method is demonstrated. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.