Ford Cleans up in 2017 J.D. Power Awards
Ford’s strategy to improve on all fronts pays off, and scores big time in this year’s J.D. Power awards.
Ford’s been hard at work improving build quality year over year, and people are starting to take notice. In this year’s J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, Ford ranked in second place among non-luxury brands. That’s the brand’s highest ranking in the award’s 31-year history.
The award for initial quality is based on problems experienced in new vehicles. They improved from 102 problems per 100 vehicles in 2016 to just 86 per 100 vehicles in 2017. That moved their rank up to second place in non-luxury brands, and tied for fourth overall.
Bennie Fowler, vice president of Ford Motor Company’s Quality group, stated “As Ford accelerates the pace of innovation, we believe this best-ever quality ranking demonstrates our new technologies are reliable and easy to use. The rapid improvements rated by third-party quality experts such as J.D. Power motivate us to improve our fitness even more as quality is a race that’s never finished.”
One of Ford’s big hurdles has been overcoming usability issues with SYNC. Now, 70% of all new Ford vehicles are produced with SYNC 3 technology that’s much more useful and user-friendly. Ford also prides themselves on offering driver-assist technologies, such as lane departure warning and forward collision warnings on more vehicles than any other manufacturer.
Furthermore, pursuing EcoBoost technology and weight-saving tricks like aluminum bodies on the F-150 is paying dividends in fuel economy. Overall, Ford’s commitment to these technologies is allowing their cars and trucks to get better year after year.
Bennie Fowler adds, “We are moving into an exciting new period of innovation in transportation, so it is very important to keep the human experience at the center of all we do, including delivering any new technology with quality.” Looks like they’re doing a great job!
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