Ford drops to near-bottom of Consumer Reports’ reliability study
The Ford brand finished 27th out of the 28 brands rated in the latest report, after dropping to 20th from No. 10 last year. Lincoln fell to 26th from 14th. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion, Toyota and Lexus brands ranked first, second and third in a list that continues to be dominated by Asian brands.
"Ford's bumpy road can be seen in the numbers," Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' new director of automotive testing, said in a statement released today. "Sixty percent of Ford-branded models and half of Lincolns were below average in predicted reliability, and none placed above average."
It's another blow for Ford, which just two years ago had been touted by the magazine for achieving a "quality renaissance."
In June, the Ford brand placed 27th in the annual Initial Quality Study by J.D. Power and Associates, as it was downgraded by consumers who found the MyFord Touch electronic infotainment system hard to use. In 2010, the Ford brand ranked No. 5 in the same study.
Consumer Reports uses reported experiences for the most-recent three years of each model to predict future reliability. The data in the 2012 Auto Reliability Survey released today are drawn from subscribers' experiences with 1.2 million vehicles.
Ford spokesman Mark Schirmer said the findings echo Ford's own research.
"We know we have areas to address, and we have been working on them and we have been making progress," he said. "Our internal data … show that we are improving in these areas, and we expect that will be reflected in next year's Consumer Reports survey." Autonews