Ford builds on quality gains in J.D. Power survey
Ford Motor Co. for the fourth consecutive year posted the most impressive gains in J.D. Power and Associates’ closely-watched survey of initial vehicle quality.
Ford’s Mercury brand was the highest-rated domestic marque, beating out Honda to claim the No. 2 non-luxury slot behind Toyota. It was the first time in recent memory that a U.S. brand passed one of the leading Japanese automakers.
The Ford brand itself was just behind Honda.
Mazda, which is controlled by Ford, posted the biggest quality gain of any brand in the annual ranking. It tied GMC for No. 22, up from a second-to-last No. 34 showing in last year’s survey. But Ford’s Lincoln brand dropped to No. 15 from the No. 3 spot last year.
Eleven out of 14 Ford brand models received improved ratings.
General Motors Corp. also showed some big improvements, with its Cadillac and Chevrolet brands tying Germany’s Audi brand for No. 10. Cadillac was No. 25 in last year’s ranking.
The news was not as good at Chrysler LLC. Its Chrysler and Dodge brands both improved, but were still below the industry average, while its Jeep brand was the worst-performing brand of all.
The survey measures vehicle quality and design issues after 90 days of ownership. This year’s survey looked at 2008 model year vehicles and surveyed more than 81,000 drivers.
The industry as a whole boosted its rating by 6 percent.
“Quality has improved this year across most of the nameplates,” said Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive research for J.D. Power.
Ford, GM, Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. each took home three of J.D. Power’s segment awards for individual models.
The Chevy Silverado light-duty model claimed top honors in the large pickup segment, while the new Malibu won in the hotly contested midsize car segment. The Pontiac Grand Prix received the large car award, though GM has since discontinued that model.
Toyota won in the large premium car segment for its Lexus LS, in the midsize premium MAV segment for its Lexus GX 470 and in the large MAV segment for its Toyota Sequoia.
Honda’s Fit won top honors in the subcompact segment, its Civic was ranked first in the compact car segment and its CR-V claimed the top slot in the compact MAV category.
J.D. Power also handed out awards for factories.
Only GM claimed one among the domestics. Its Fairfax II plant in Kansas City, Kan., which manufactures the Maliubu and Saturn Aura, received a bronze award.
The two highest-rated plants in North America both belonged to Toyota. Its Baja plant in Mexico received the gold medal, while its factory in San Antonio, Texas, received the silver.
The Mercedes-Benz flagship factory in Sindelfingen, Germany, was the highest-rated in the world.
Source Detroit News