by Ford tops JD Power quality ranking among mass-market brands
Ford CEO Jim Farley is celebrating the company’s victory as the best mass-market brand in the recent JD Power Initial Quality Study. He attributes this success to a four-year campaign to fix what was broken.
Study details and Ford’s achievement
The study analyzes problems owners face within the first 90 days of owning a new vehicle. It showed that Ford averages 152 problems per 100 vehicles. This was enough to beat Lexus, Nissan, Buick, Hyundai, and Subaru, and it represents a significant improvement from 2023, when Ford was in 15th place.
“Oh, this is a big day for Ford,” Farley said after the results were announced. “We’ve worked hard for four years to become an overnight success story. It’s been an incredible journey over the last few years. We have completely transformed all of our plants and our quality operating system.”
It’s worth noting that the study only provides a snapshot of the first 90 days of ownership and does not analyze problems after that time. Additionally, Ford has already issued 51 recalls this year, more than double the rate of its competitors. However, Farley told Yahoo! Finance that warranty costs fell last year and will continue to drop this year. He also noted: “Recall costs are coming down, and this is going to be a big financial story for the company.”
Culture change and new plans
Farley said Ford had to change its culture to match the quality of its competitors, especially those from Japan and Germany. Now Ford employees are “totally obsessed with all the data,” Farley describes, stating that “we look at every defect and understand why it happened.”
Ford has not focused solely on improving vehicle quality. During the same interview, Farley discussed the company’s plans for more affordable models. He stated that they plan to launch five or six such models, starting with a new all-electric pickup truck priced under $30,000. He also revealed that Ford can now match BYD on battery costs thanks to the work of its skunkworks team in California.
This success in the JD Power ranking is an important signal for the market, as it demonstrates that systemic changes in production processes and corporate culture can yield tangible results. At the same time, the large number of recalls indicates that quality issues have not been fully resolved, and the company needs to continue its work to maintain its achieved position and reduce the financial costs associated with warranty service. The parallel focus on affordable electric vehicles points to Ford’s strategic vision, which combines improving quality with expanding the market.
