• by Karl Greenberg , April 19, 2010

Ford Motor Company says it now has the highest customer satisfaction with vehicle quality among all major automakers. The Dearborn, Mich. automaker says 84% of customers who purchased 2010 model-year Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks are satisfied with the quality of their vehicle, a 4 percentage point improvement since the fourth quarter of 2009.

The data comes from a Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study for Ford by Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based RDA Group. The automaker says the data means that customer satisfaction is higher for Ford than for all other full-line automotive manufacturers, including Asian and European automakers.

Ford says the data suggests it has the fewest number of vehicle defects or “things gone wrong� among all full-line manufacturers in the first three months of ownership.

Ford says it also has a 23% year-over-year improvement in the resale values of its vehicles with one to five years on the road – outpacing the industry average by 4 percentage points.

The GQRS study is conducted on a quarterly basis with scores assessed from survey responses collected from owners of vehicles purchased “Within specific time frames,� per the company.