J.D Power: Ford Is a Winner
June 07, 2007

By Joe Szczesny

Ford Motor Co. managed something of an upset Wednesday as J.D. Power & Associates released the results of its closely watched Initial Quality Study (IQS) of 2007 models. Neal Oddes, J.D. Power’s director of product research and analysis, said the results of the quality survey contained very good news for Ford.

“Fourteen Ford Motor Company models placed in the top three of their respective segments — an achievement unmatched by any other corporation this year — which is a testament to the improvement in quality for Ford Motor Company vehicle models and plants. In addition, their Lincoln nameplate, which receives two segment awards, improves considerably to rank 3rd in 2007, from 12th in 2006,” Oddes said.

“Ford had some great launches,” he added.

Toyota and Mercedes-Benz also had strong showings in the IQS, which was based on responses from 97,000 consumers, who purchased new 2007 models between November 1, 2006 and January 31, 2007.

Mercedes-Benz, which had lagged in the IQS in recent years, also did well, capturing three segment awards and moving from 28th place in last year’s nameplate rankings to 5th overall. The new Mercedes Benz S-Class got very good marks from consumers, Oddes said.

Irv Miller, Toyota Motor Sales vice president of communications, noted, “Lexus, Toyota and Scion all scored well in a year we launched nine new vehicles. Four Toyota vehicles also were segment leaders, he said.  “Consumers by vehicles with a long-standing reputation for quality,” Miller added. Toyota now has the highest customer loyalty in the industry, he added.

Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky noted while the IQS results vary from year to year for most manufacturers, Honda consistently has gotten high marks over the years.

The Honda nameplate was 4th overall in the 2007 rankings and was identified as the top non-premium nameplate in the study. The Honda Civic and Honda CR-V ranked as top vehicles in the compact car and compact multiple activity vehicle segments,  Acura’s ranking , however, slipped from 10th to 17th.

Infiniti also held its ground in the survey slipping slightly from 7th to 9th in the nameplate survey but Nissan dropped from 12th to 19th primarily because of complaints about the Altima and the Versa, Oddes said.

Kia, on the other hand, moved from 24th to 12th, posting an above-average score. The 2007 Kia Rio/Rio5 ranked highest in initial quality in the subcompact segment for the second consecutive year in the IQS.

"The J.D. Power IQS awards are particularly significant since they are based directly on positive feedback from Kia owners," said Len Hunt, executive vice president and COO of Kia Motors America.

Audi, Volkswagen and BMW, which have seen their rankings slip also posted  below average scores in the data released by J.D. Power.

The biggest disappointments, however, were felt at General Motors and Chrysler Group.

Overall, all of GM’s brands posted below-average scores and none of GM’s brands made it into the top 10 on the IQS as even Cadillac saw its overall ranking decline. Cadillac’s marks were dragged down by complaints about the 2007 Cadillac Escalade.

“It was a mixed bag,” said Jamie Hresko, GM vice president of quality. “I sure don’t want to finish in the middle of the pack.”

Moreover, the launch of the 2007 Escalade had not gone as smoothly as GM would have liked, he acknowledged. “We had some good launches, and we had some that didn’t live up to our expectations.”

Overall, though, the differences between a good and an average score in the IQS has become very, very small, he said. “It’s still an opportunity to improve our product,” he said, adding GM’s own warranty data show a steady improvement in the vehicle quality.

Chrysler also slipped badly in the survey as all three of its key brands, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, fell into towards the bottom of the ranks.

Sam Locricchio, Chrysler spokesman, noted the rankings slipped at a time when the company was launching several new products. “At the same time, we're busy launching 10 new products and product is king,” he said.

Moreover, there were also several bright spots for Chrysler. “The Aspen launched extremely well. The Dakota did very well in its segment and the Grand Cherokee showed real signs of improvement,” he said.

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