Perhaps you’ve seen recent claims from Ford touting the initial quality of its new vehicles.
Those claims are based on a survey, commissioned by Ford through a specialist company, which concludes that "Ford Motor Co. is in a dead heat with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. in terms of initial vehicle quality...."
The fine print at the bottom of the advertisement flashes by in seconds, but the key word here is "initial," as in the first three months of ownership.
These results are not surprising. Almost all auto manufacturers have raised the levels of their initial-quality game. For many years, various surveys have shown that differences among most brands in the first 90 days have been shrinking into statistical insignificance. Very few cars have major problems on delivery these days. This is great news for car makers and car buyers.
Ford’s survey sounds like, but is not the same as, the well-known J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS).
The Power IQS shows a similar trend. Initial quality is quite good across most of the auto industry, and differences are increasingly minor. In fact, last year’s IQS – the most recent available - showed that the spread from the best to the worst brand is less than 0.8 problem per vehicle.