SILENCE THE SQUEAKS, BATTLE THE RATTLE

Christoph Patois’ ‘quality in use’ team obsess about eliminating squeaks and rattles that can drive owners mad. They measure a car’s condition at new and then over time, assessing its appearance and functionality to see how a car is ageing. ‘Customer expectation after three years is for a quality level close to brand new!’ reports Patois.

The dashboard is potentially a big source of parasitic noise, so Peugeot works hard on ˜it and ˜inish. ‘The idea is to avoid any gaps that generate movement and can lead to dilation. And adjoining materials mustn’t squeak!’ Volkswagen, Audi and Honda cars are assessed in the same way, their faults logged. ‘In ˜ive years, we’ve been able to reduce Peugeot defects by 50 per cent. The next step is to reduce this by 20 per cent – then we will be the best in class.’