Automaker takes lead spot in five of 19 segments in survey
DETROIT - People might have to stop making all those jokes about the quality of Ford’s cars — the ones that say Ford stands for “Found on Road Dead” or “Fixed or Repaired Daily.”Now, it could be “Fixing Our Reputation Daily.”
Ford Motor Co. supplanted Toyota as leader of the pack in J.D. Power and Associates’ annual initial quality rankings released Wednesday, grabbing more individual awards than any other automaker for the first time since 1998, when it tied for the top spot.
Ford ranked highest in five of 19 segments in this year’s survey. That’s two better than in 1998 — the last time a U.S. automaker was on top — when Ford tied with Toyota and Honda.
The Dearborn automaker earned segment awards for the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Mark LT, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan and Mazda MX-5 Miata. Mazda is 33.4 percent owned by Ford.Porsche again dominated the overall ranking of brands, averaging 91 problems per 100 vehicles, as it had last year. That compared with a 2007 industry average of 125 problems per 100 vehicles. Last year it was 124.
Toyota Motor Corp., which grabbed the top spot in 11 segments last year, captured only four this year — the 4Runner, Sequoia, Tacoma and Lexus RX350/RX400h.
Ford’s Lincoln brand, which jumped from 12th to third in overall vehicle quality, averaged 100 problems per 100 vehicles. It was behind Porsche and Toyota’s Lexus luxury brand, which averaged 94 problems per 100 vehicles.
“We saw dramatic improvement from Lincoln,” said Neal Oddes, J.D. Power’s director of product research and analysis. “It was a fantastic year for the Mercury Milan, with dramatic improvements in terms of defects.”
Overall, he said, Ford’s strength came from new launches such as the Edge and the Lincoln MKX and MKZ.
Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said those launches “speak volumes about what we’re doing right.”
“What we saw today is the result of several years of adhering to our design and manufacturing processes with complete discipline,” she said. “It took some time for the results to be evident.”
Toyota had seen its list of quality leaders decrease in a quality study released Monday by Strategic Vision Inc., a San Diego-based market research company and consultant to automakers. Despite improving its overall quality, Toyota led in one category in that study — down from four in 2006. South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. led in five categories, outperforming its Japanese, European and U.S. competitors. Last year, it had no winners.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
have you ever owned a ford in your lifetime bro? or are you just one of those band wagoneers?
I agree. my dad's Ford Explorer is now 2 years old with only 1 year warranty. post -warranty so far we're spending around 5k+ PMS 6 months (synthetic oil ang nagpalaki), just about the same cost of PMS of a compact car sedan.
some people connote reliability to matipid i-maintain. it just so happens that our Ford dealers are overcharging parts compared to regular Japs. but that doesn't mean Ford is unreliable.
if a person posts a hate thread here about his Ford. actually nagsimula yan sa gas consumption yun frustration I mean
the quality standards of ford seem to be reflected here in the philippines - with the good feedback coming not only from ford owners but even from mazda owners.
Ford beats Toyota in quality rankings
bat naputol yung article...
Linear Mode
