Ford: Quality equal to Toyota, Nissan

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., April 18 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. vehicle quality is about the same as that of Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., a study conducted for Ford said Wednesday.

Honda Motor Co. turned out the best overall results, the study by the suburban Detroit RDA Group market-research firm said.

Still, "It's a big improvement for us," Ford global quality Vice President Bennie Fowler told The Detroit Free Press.

RDA asked 31,000 new-vehicle owners to list any problems they encountered in the first 90 days of ownership of their 2007-model cars and trucks from all major automakers.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand vehicles had 1,456 problems per 1,000 vehicles, compared with 1,457 for Nissan and 1,453 for Toyota, RDA said.

Honda was found to be the best in new-car quality, with 1,313 "things gone wrong" per 1,000 vehicles, RDA said.

Ford's quality improved 8 percent, compared with the overall industry's 2 percent improvement.

In the midsize-car segment, the Ford Fusion beat the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord with 1,066 problems per 1,000 vehicles, while the Mercury Milan scored 910, the lowest score for any Ford product, RDA said.