Ford beats Toyota in Quality Rankings
Automaker takes lead spot in five of 19 segments in survey!
David Zalubowski / AP file
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.
“What we saw today is the result of several years of adhering to our design and manufacturing processes with complete discipline,” Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said of the automaker's finish. “It took some time for the results to be evident.”
4 comments:
It's unfortunate that Ford's surge will not benefit Windsor. That Mustang has bolted right out of town.
American cars continue to get a bad rap on quality because of what went on in the '70s and early '80s. Things have changed and it's time to re-evaluate the quality of domestic offerings. My own vehicle is a 6+ years old and hasn't had a spot of trouble. Best of all, when it needs new brakes, or tires, they are available inexpensively. Can't say that of Hondas and Volkswagens. The import car mystique is just that - a mystique.
I agree with you anonymous. We had a couple of bad decades. BUT! Since about 1990 longevity and reliability have become the norm. I have a 12 year old chevy. It's never been in for any major repairs and it is rust free. 200,000 km. The Japanese pulled ahead of the pack for reliability which comes from their steadfast and conservative approach to car builds. They got huge brownie points for "fit and function" but that is only because they use a lighter guage of steel which crash forms much easier. Look at any recent japanese car and count the little door and panel dents. You don't see this as much on NA built vehicles. The only suggestion I would offer now is to reduce the amount of needless and tacky factory bling which N/A cars are notorious for. Example embossed facias, extra ribs, chrome banded tail lights etc. Eliminate that stuff, increase the margins and pass some of the savings on to us. Who knows, that may put the price point right in line with the japanese cars.
Those foreign companies aren't so foreign. Toyota,Honda and Nissan make more vehicles in North America than they import.
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