Market research company J D Power and Associates' 2009 Initial Quality Study has placed the Ford and Mercury brands among the best in the industry, and placing them among its top ten brands scoring highest in initial quality.

The Ford brand, which continues to outpace the overall industry's quality improvement, now has posted eight consecutive years of gains in the closely watched quality study based on consumer evaluations after the first three months of new-vehicle ownership.

Overall, the Ford brand improved by 10 points over last year's study.

"Ford is becoming synonymous with high quality because of our consistent efforts on quality improvement.  It is gratifying to see our commitment to quality paying off in such recognition,” said Waldo Galan, managing director, Ford Middle East.

"Together with our dealers across the region, it is our top priority to continue to deliver quality products and service to our customers,” he added.

Some of Ford's most popular nameplates received top honors for their respective segment, including Ford F-150, Mustang, Edge and Mercury Montego.

J D Power and Associates 2009 Initial Quality Study is based on responses from 80,930 new 2009 model-year vehicle owners after they have driven their new vehicles for three months.

It measures problems per 100 vehicles and was based on November through February registrations. – TradeArabia News Service