A Crushing Issue: How to Destroy Brand-New Cars - WSJ.com
2008/04/30/1030RTFA: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120942873506551291…
Mazda saw no easy way to guard against these outcomes. So it decided to destroy approximately $100 million worth of factory-new automobiles. “We couldn’t run the risk of damaging the brand name that Mazda worked so hard over the years to develop,” says Jeremy Barnes, the company’s corporate-affairs director for North America.
It turns out that wrecking cars isn’t a simple matter. “We had to create a disassembly line, basically,” says Bob Turbett, the Mazda executive overseeing the destruction process.
It took more than a year to devise a plan that satisfied everyone. The city of Portland wanted assurance that nearly 5,000 cars’ worth of antifreeze, brake fluid and other hazardous goop wasn’t mishandled. Insurers covering Mazda’s losses wanted to be sure the company wouldn’t resell any cars or parts — thereby profiting on the side. So every steel-alloy wheel has to be sliced, every battery rendered inoperable, and every tire damaged beyond repair. All CD players must get smashed.
The new fad that’s sweeping the world: destroying things!
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