It was only sometime ago when Ford had posted a humongous loss amounting to billions of dollars. The Blue oval was a sign of taxi cabs and low resale. I am not even counting low Fuel Efficiency and maintenance issues. Recalls were always above 100,000.
Things turned to worse when Toyota overtook ford for the no.2 position in such important market as North America. But as the saying goes 'better late than never.' Ford is back in the game and how???? The next quarter itself after posting a huge loss amounting to about 15billion dollars, Ford shook management, fired lazy designers, cleaned up manufacturing houses and the result was evident when Ford posted a 750 million dollars operating profit, a first in almost a decade.
Good news later followed when Ford beat all Toyota models in quality and interior design ratings. Some from as reputed companies as J.D. Power.
Now the good news continue to roll as Ford keep cutting fleet sales and concentrate on what the real buyer needs. Ford has recently showed Honda who the boss is.
The quality of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand vehicles soared to the top of the charts equaling that of Toyota and Honda, according to the first quarter 2008 U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study conducted by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
The company earned best-in-class honors in two important engineering functions: interiors, which includes such areas as trim, seats and instrument panel appearance; and electrical, which includes entertainment systems. Ford tied for best-in-class in two other functions, paint and vehicle engineering, which includes such areas as ride and handling and cabin quietness.
Additionally, Ford’s domestic brands pushed customer satisfaction up one point to 77 percent.
A total of 15 Ford, Lincoln, Mercury vehicles are ranked in the top three of their respective segments for either TGW performance, customer satisfaction or both.
The following models are segment leaders:
• Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 – TGW for sports car
• Ford Five Hundred – customer satisfaction for large car
• Ford Sport Trac – customer satisfaction for medium traditional utility
• Mercury Milan – TGW for mid size car
• Lincoln Navigator – TGW and customer satisfaction for large premium utility
The new 2008 Ford Taurus (called Five Hundred in the Middle East) and Mercury Sable (called Mercury Montego in the Middle East) both recorded quality levels that equate to less than one problem per vehicle, as did the Volvo S80 (947). The Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ were close, with 1,030 TGW and 1065 TGW, respectively.
The Five Hundred also led a string of impressive new vehicles launched in 2007. Five Hundred showed a 33 percent quality improvement compared with the product it replaced. The new Ford Escape improved 16 percent over the out-going model.
In fact, 36 of 40 Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda nameplates improved this year versus 2007.
The 2008 first quarter U.S. GQRS study, which RDA Group conducts for Ford, asks customers of all major makes and models to comment on troubles and rate their overall satisfaction with their three-month-old vehicles. The survey includes vehicles registered from September 2007 through November 2007.
One may ask. What about India? Well Mr. Mathew (His surname ends with Mathew but he is to Ford India what Bill Ford is to Ford motors. :)) himself has promised the best service possible for ford cars. And with overdrive churning record Fuel efficiency numbers in the chaotic traffic conditions with the Ford Fiesta, Honda needs to make-up the city fast.
Honda maybe known for its engines, but Ford is known for its legendary status and that includes not just engines but the cars as a whole.
Good going ford.
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