Ford, Mercury Remains The Shining Stars In Initial Quality Study
Ford Motor Company plans to conduct involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August 1, 2008.
It has been told by the company officials that, Ford would cut 10 to 12 percent or more than 2,000 employees this summer.
Ford spokesman, Mark Truby said, “We’re not going to comment on internal discussions we’re having with our employees. As soon as we finalize some of these details, we’re going to tell our employees as quickly as we can.”
The J.D. Power and Associates has released its 2008 Initial Quality Study results on June 4. This year has showed the overall quality improvement with 118 problems per 100 vehicles. Last year, the study reported 125 problems per 100 vehicles.
The quality study tallies the problems reported per 100 vehicles by owners of new vehicles, 90 days after purchase. The survey includes design complaints as well as manufacturing defects and the complaints could be a button or a switch on the instrument panel, or an uncomfortable seat.
According to the report, the Ford and Mercury brands jumped two positions and were the shining stars at the quality study. Both the brands cracked the top eight rankings in the latest study. Ford Motor’s eleven nameplates out of fourteen have showed the significant improvement.
However, Ford’s Lincoln dropped drastically to number 15, from its number 3 spot in 2007. Global manager of quality data at Ford, Mike Hardie said that the navigation and voice command issues were to blame for Lincoln’s falter. He further added, “We’re taking a look right now to resolve those issues to mitigate those for customers in the future.”
Audi has posted the largest improvement in the latest ranking, moving from bottom fourth rankings in 2007 to number 10 this year. It has shed 23 defects as compared to the last year.
Porsche held on to its number 1 spot followed by Infiniti and Lexus. The Porsche 911 has the fewest quality problems in the industry, with just 67 problems per 100 vehicles. For the third consecutive year, Porsche tops the overall nameplate rankings.
Infiniti improved from 9th position in the last year to 2nd position in 2008. Toyota tied with Mercedes-Benz at number 4 position.
GM could not make it to the top 10 with any of its brands. However, its four brands such as Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and Pontiac- all rose from below average last year to above average in the 2008 study.
General Motors’ Chevrolet Malibu sedan has collected the top award in the mid-sized car segment.
According to GM’s top quality executive, Jamie Hresko “When the customer spoke here, it validated that we are doing all right.” The executive further said, “I think one of the big keys was that our launches are helping us, not hurting us. I’m not sure it’s a grand slam, but we did very well.”
Interestingly, one of the U.S. notable automakers, Chrysler LLC’s brands remained at below the industry average in the ratings. Jeep was the industry’s worst at 167 problems. Dodge and Chrysler placed in the 28th and 29th position, or in the bottom fourth of all brands in the rankings.
Honda models capture three segment awards, more than any other nameplate in the 2008 study for the Civic, CR-V and Fit. Garnering two segment awards each were Chevrolet with Malibu and Silverado LD; Dodge with Dakota and Durango; Infiniti with EX-Series and M-Series; Lexus with LS and RX; and Mercedes-Benz with CLK-Class and E-Class.
