Celebrated premium luxury brand Mercedes is beginning the new year with yet more moral and ethical vagrancy. Yet again they only have themselves to blame. Mercedes is over 95 years old and is considered to be a leading automotive manufacturer. And after all this time they can not make a safe reliable car despite developing state of the art safety systems. The marketing informs us but actual ownership is where really strikes. Mercedes has been forced into issuing a recall for its flagship, all singing all dancing S Class due to a defective steering column.

Brand new units of the S Class were installed with inner tie rods shorter than the recommended engineering tolerances. In other words, Mercedes fucked up. Or another way to put it is, someone on the assembly line was handed the inner tie rod from an A Class and installed it onto the S Class. The inner tie rods connect to the steering rack while the outer tie rods connect to the steering arms. It is safe to say they are vital components of the steering system.

In a statement, Mercedes said the fault “could not permanently withstand the stresses of driving”, In other words, the fault, like any other production fault, could lead to fatal consequences. And because Mercedes does not want a Class Action lawsuit on its hands so soon after dieselgate, owners of the new S Class are recommended to visit a Mercedes dealership for a free repair. Which sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

Of course, the repair is for free, new cars are under warranty, so there should never be an issue over recall fault repairs. Mercedes blamed a supplier but this isn’t the first time Mercedes has issued a recall and it won’t be the last. Engineering pedigree and history have no place in a modern Just in Time production philosophy.