Letter from Mark Fields - Ford President of the Americas As we continue to make progress on delivering the commitments of our Way Forward plan, I regularly talk about the importance of celebrating our successes along the way. This week, we've reached an important milestone in our quality journey that I want to share. That is, our Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles have reached Toyota-brand quality. Based on the first-quarter 3 Months-in-Service GQRS (Global Quality Research System) report – which measures our customers’ impressions of their new vehicles after having driven them for three months – Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicle quality now is in a statistical dead heat with Toyota. Below are some highlights: Our TGWs (things gone wrong) reported are 1,456 compared with Toyota’s 1,453 – a .003 troubles per vehicle difference.
We also bested Nissan (1,457 TGWs) and fell just under Honda (1,313 TGWs) which ranked first in the survey.
Six of our vehicles also ranked as segment leaders for top quality: Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan in midsize cars; Ford Mustang and Shelby GT500 in sports cars; Ford Expedition EL in large traditional SUVs; and the Lincoln Navigator in large premium utilities.
It's important to note that we've achieved these vehicle quality improvements while making good progress on reducing our North American warranty spend in the first quarter of this year. And the good news continues: Two product development functional areas – Body Interior and Electrical systems – beat Toyota and achieved best-in-class status. Two additional areas – Chassis and Vehicle Development & Engineering Control – are performing at Toyota levels. Very encouragingly, history shows that our GQRS results very closely track to the various external J.D. Power quality reports, the next of which will be out in June. For more insight into our quality improvements, be sure to watch today's webcast where Bennie Fowler and I discussed our results. Click here to view the webcast. The progress we've made in this area is a testimony to our solid launches, the teamwork demonstrated by all areas of the company and from our suppliers, and by listening to our customers. These results are very exciting and another sign of progress on our Way Forward plan. And while we should be very proud to be making so much progress on vehicle quality, this is only the beginning. We cannot and will not let up. Our turnaround depends on our continued focus in this area. Improving the quality, safety, design and innovation of our products remains our top priorities as we deliver more products that our customers really want. Thank you all for your hard work and continued support. – Mark Fields