Ford's 2008 Quality Improvement
Let me begin my first official post by saying that I own an American SUV. There, now that it’s out in the open, I can’t wait to hear all of the comments from people who say I am biased. Those who do say that are totally correct, I am biased…towards the truth! According to a recent JD Power survey, in overall quality, Mercury scored a “Better than Average” rating…the same rating that Toyota received. Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, GMC and Lincoln received an “Above Average” rating…putting them in a tie with Honda. In 2008, Ford Motor Company improved it’s TGW (Things Gone Wrong) number by 11% over 2007…nearly 6 times the industry average!
Maybe you’ll say now that the survey’s are biased…well how about some awards based on the number of repairs that cars see. JD Power awarded the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu as being the “Highest Ranked Midsize Car in Initial Quality.” The 2008 Chevy Silverado LD was given the “Highest Ranked Large Pickup in Initial Quality” award. What?? Two American vehicles won quality awards? What gives? I guess they must be…as good or better than their foreign competition!
Say you’re still not convinced, and you think that the D3 are still lacking. If that were true, how could GM, Ford or Chrysler afford to offer warranties that offer the same or BETTER coverage for their vehicles than Toyota or Honda? If they were having as many quality issues as everyone believes that they are, they would be bankrupt simply due to repair costs. In fact, GM offers a 5 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, greater than Toyota or Honda’s 5 year, 60,000 mile warranty. Chrysler now offers an un-heard of “unlimited” warranty, where the powertrain is covered no matter how many years the original owner has the vehicle, or how many miles they drive it. If Honda, Toyota, Nissan or Kia have such great quality, then they should be able to offer warranties at levels of the domestic manufacturers without a hit in warranty costs. Or maybe they can talk the talk, but can’t walk the walk?
Tags: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, General Motors, GM, GMC, J.D. Power, Lincoln, Mercury, Myths, Pontiac, Toyota
