Ford Vehicles Continue Driving Quality Gains

[Edge Guide]

Ford Vehicles Continue Driving Quality Gains

 

 

* Ford Motor Company vehicle quality improves for third straight year, outpacing the industry average in the 2007 U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS) survey for the second quarter.

* 19 Ford Motor Company vehicles ranked in top three for either customer satisfaction, “Things Gone Wrong” (TGW) performance – or both.

* Ford Edge, Mustang Shelby GT500, Explorer, E-Series vans, Lincoln Mark LT pickup and Mazda MX-5 Miata topped their segments in the industry study.

* High-quality launches land Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers on top – again.

 

DEARBORN, Mich., July 19 – Ford Motor Company vehicles continue making dramatic strides in quality, outstripping the industry’s rate of improvement in “things gone wrong” (TGWs) in the second quarter U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study.

 

The company improved by 10 percent versus last year, while the report’s average industry-wide improvement rate hit 4 percent. Plus, 19 Ford Motor Company models ranked in the report’s top three places for customer satisfaction, TGW performance – or both – after three months in service.

 

Mustang Shelby GT500, Ford Explorer and Lincoln Mark LT pickup won top honors for TGW performance, while Ford Edge, Ford E-series vans and Mazda MX-5 Miata topped their segments in customer satisfaction. Ford’s newest vehicles, including Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX and Lincoln Navigator L, were strong customer satisfaction performers – and each launched with considerably fewer TGWs than the industry average. Meanwhile, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ are sustaining their high quality levels since their launches in late 2004.

 

“We’re launching new products with quality, and our team is working hard to consistently build quality into the vehicles we’re delivering for customers,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas, Ford Motor Company. “We’ve redoubled our commitment to deliver more products customers really want – with quality that rivals the best in the industry.”

 

The 2007 second quarter U.S. Global Quality Research System study, conducted for Ford by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., asks customers of all major makes and models to comment on troubles and rate their overall satisfaction with their three-month-old vehicles.

 

Second-place winners for TGW performance and customer satisfaction include:

 

* Ford Freestyle: TGW performance, Crossover utility.

* Ford Expedition: TGW performance, Large traditional utility.

* Ford Expedition EL: Customer satisfaction performance, Large traditional utility.

* Ford E-Series: TGW performance, Full-size van passenger/cargo.

* Mercury Milan: TGW performance, CD car segment.

* Mercury Mountaineer: TGW performance, Medium traditional utility.

* Lincoln Navigator L: TGW performance and customer satisfaction performance, Large premium utility.

* Mazda MX-5 Miata: customer satisfaction, Sports car segment.

* Volvo S60: TGW performance, CD Premium car segment.

* Volvo S80: TGW performance, D Premium car segment.

 

Third-place winners include:

 

* Ford Fusion: TGW performance, CD car segment.

* Ford F-150: TGW performance, Fullsize light truck segment.

* Lincoln MKZ: TGW performance, CD Premium car segment.

* Lincoln Navigator: TGW performance and customer satisfaction performance, Large premium utility segment.

* Mazda MX-5 Miata: TGW performance, Sports car segment.

 

In the report, Ford Motor Company vehicles are at 1,427 TGWs, representing 159 fewer TGWs since last year. The company’s lineup achieved an overall customer satisfaction rating of 75 percent, up by 1 percentage point.

 

“We’ve been employing the most disciplined processes around the world to improve the quality of all of our brands,” said Bennie Fowler, vice president, Quality, Ford Motor Company. “The results show that the processes work. And we will not let up.”

 

Ford, Lincoln, Mercury brands had an impressive performance with 1,419 TGWs, an improvement of 144 TGWs; and a customer satisfaction rate of 75 percent, up by 2 percentage points.

 

Volvo vehicles are at 1,433 TGWs, an improvement of 114 TGWs, and a customer satisfaction rate of 79 percent. Jaguar vehicles are at 1,603 TGWs, a deterioration of 46 TGWs, and a customer satisfaction rate of 82 percent. Land Rover is at 1,794 TGWs, an improvement of 411 TGWs, and a customer satisfaction rate of 73 percent. Mazda vehicles are at 1,798 TGWs, representing an improvement of 107 TGWs, and a customer satisfaction rate of 73 percent.

 

the survey average for TGW performance is 1,447 and for customer satisfaction level is 78 percent.

 

The GQRS report is the latest of several recent third-party quality assessments showing Ford’s continued improvement. Ford received 14 total vehicles ranked in the top three in their respective segments, including five highest-ranked segment awards, in J.D. Power and Associates IQS study released on June 6. Many of those vehicles were recently launched. [http://media.ford.com/newsroom/feature_display.cfm?release=25404]

 

On June 28, J.D. Power and Associates APEAL study ranked Ford Edge the industry’s top performing all-new vehicle and Ford Mustang won its segment for the third straight year. [h ttp://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=26261&make_id=trust ].

 

In April, RDA Group released its first quarter GQRS report for the year showing Ford in a statistical dead heat with Toyota and just behind Honda.

 

“We’re encouraged by these sustained quality gains, but we also know we have more work to do,” Fields said. “The quality race never ends, and we have to make sure customers know how much progress and momentum we’re gaining on the quality front.”

[mkaresh]

I'm also seeing good results for Ford products in my reliability research. TrueDelta will update results next month, based on owners' experience through June 30, 2007.

 

One partial exception, though, will be the Edge. You will notice that they tout the Edge's customer satisfaction score, but not its TGW. In TrueDelta's results, the Edge will have about an average repair rate. Not bad, considering it's a brand new model, but also not as strong as the Fusion. It's very likely that the Edge's repair rate will improve over the course of the model year, and especially with the 2008s. This has been the case with the Five Hundred and Freestyle, which have low repair rates in their second and third years.

 

I'll also have results for GM's large crossovers. Their repair rates are considerably higher than the Edge's.

 

Details about TrueDelta's research:

 

Vehicle reliability research