Ford has jumped to No. 2 of all non-premium brands in J D Power’s 2017 Initial Quality Study – the brand’s best-ever ranking in the annual study now in its 31st year.

The Ford brand improved to 86 problems per 100 vehicles from 102 in 2016. This improvement helped Ford tie for fourth among all brands from 11th in 2016.

“As Ford accelerates the pace of innovation, we believe this best-ever quality ranking demonstrates our new technologies are reliable and easy to use,” said Bennie Fowler, group vice president, Quality. “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.”

Seven Ford and Lincoln vehicles are in the top three in their respective segments. Ford Expedition and Mustang took top quality honours in their segments.

Ford is delivering new innovations with better quality than average as the industry has faced challenges rolling out new advancements such as connectivity and driver-assist features. Specifically, Ford is:

•    Equipping approximately 70 per cent of vehicles with advanced SYNC 3 technology with significant quality improvements
•    Offering more models in the United States with popular driver-assist features such as adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning than any other full-line manufacturer.
•    Continuing the rapid rollout of advanced EcoBoost engine technology and lightweighting innovations such as aluminium-bodied F-Series trucks – combining to deliver improved performance, capability and efficiency.

“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,” said Fowler. – TradeArabia News Service