• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

Ford Motor Co., the automaker whose longtime tagline was “Quality is Job 1,” is once again bragging about its superiority. 

A 30-second spot touts the brand’s number-one ranking among mass market brands in the recent JD Power 2026 U.S. Initial Quality Study.

The Ford F-150, Ford Mustang and Ford Super Duty all ranked highest in their respective segments. It is the second year in a row that those three iconic vehicles won their segments.

The Ford Escape, Ford Explorer, Ford Expedition and Ford Maverick also landed among the top three in their segments. That means seven of Ford’s 10 models tested placed in the top three in their segments, the highest percentage of any other automaker.

"We aren't taking a victory lap for this award,” says Phil O’Connor, global head of Ford marketing communications, in a statement. “We are using this moment to launch a special campaign that highlights and thanks our Ford team for making this possible and putting quality first.”

The thousands of Ford employees who "put their heads down and did the hard work" deserve the spotlight, he says. The automaker is running full-page print newspaper ads in all of its plant cities to directly thank team members.

“Across our facilities, you will see wraps and banners celebrating this win," O'Connor says. "And because our 2,900 dealerships are the face of Ford to the customer, we are providing them with point-of-purchase materials and displays, encouraging them to share this news directly with customers.”

Ford will expand the campaign in July. Starting July 4 weekend, the automaker will leverage its  Major League Baseball partnership with a new national TV spot, "Where Quality Comes From,” from Wieden+Kennedy. Variations will also appear across social, billboards, and sports stadium signage.

The company surpassed the industry’s traditional mass market leaders in IQS, climbing from No. 15 in 2023 to No. 1 among mainstream brands in the annual survey of new buyers.

“This is a proud day for everyone at Ford, and the result of years of intensive work across our company,” says Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO, in a release. “Many doubted that an American company with a huge American workforce could compete with the world’s best on quality, let alone reach the top. But we put our heads down and worked together every day to deliver for our customers. Today, Ford is not only the most American automaker but also the gold standard for new vehicle quality.”

The "Quality is Job 1” campaign was created by Wells Rich Greene in the early 1980s and ran for 17 years.