• by Karl Greenberg , October 13, 2008

Ford says not all is dour in Detroit. The Dearborn, Mich. automaker says it has matched Toyota and Honda in domestic product quality. The company bases the assertion on a study it commissioned by Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based RDA Group, which surveyed owners of all major makes and models after three months in service. 

Per Ford, its three core brands have reduced problems ("things gone wrong" or TGW) by 7.7% versus last year, making it statistically equivalent with Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus/Scion. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicle quality has improved 33% since 2004, Ford says.

The company says Ford F-Series Super Duty and the Lincoln Mark LT ranked first in their respective segments in both TGW and customer satisfaction. Ford Mustang GT 500 topped the sports car category in TGW.

Ford says its Focus compact sedan now equals the Toyota Corolla in problems and customer satisfaction. And the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan are better than the Toyota Camry in TGW, which both vehicles also tied in RDA Group's measure of customer satisfaction.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles averaged 1,287 TGW per 1,000 vehicles, a reduction of 108 versus a year ago. Customer satisfaction with the company's vehicles reached its highest level ever, improving one point to 77%.

Indeed, the quality of vehicles has improved across the board. In J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Study released this summer--also a measure of quality in the first three months--about three-quarters of 36 saw improvements, with overall quality improving 6% this year.

The study found that 86% of improvement came via eliminating defects and malfunctions, but that "minimizing design problems remains a major challenge for the industry, particularly since new technology, such as navigation and entertainment devices, is becoming increasingly common in today's new vehicles," per the firm.

J.D. Powers and Associates ranked the Ford brand eighth overall after Honda, Lincoln 15th after Pontiac, and Mercury sixth after Toyota. The firm gave Ford's E-Series and Lincoln Navigator first place in their respective categories.