J.D. Power just released its 2022 China Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), and thus far, the results are quite good for Changan Ford, The Blue Oval’s joint venture in that particular country, which moved up from sixth in last year’s study to second among all mass market brands this year. In the mid-size segment, that success continues, as the Ford Mondeo sedan ranked third in its class in the same study, too.
The Ford Mondeo was beat out by the Volkswagen Passat and Toyota Camry, which finished first and second, respectively. Regardless, it’s a good result for the long-running model, which was just redesigned for China, where it remains on sale years after its American counterpart – the Fusion – was discontinued. Mondeo production in Europe also ended earlier this year as customers in that region have shown a preference for crossovers in recent years.
The J.D. Power China Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), now in its 13th year, measures the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles during the past six months by owners of 13- to 48-month-old vehicles, whereas a lower score reflects higher quality. The study covers 177 specific problems grouped into nine major vehicle categories – exterior, interior, driving experience, features, controls, and displays, infotainment, climate, seats, powertrain, and driving assistance. This year’s study is based on the responses from 37,345 vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle between December 2017 and May 2021 and covers 208 models from 48 different brands.
“The number of design-related problems in long-term quality is increasing, which is consistent with the China Initial Quality Study released earlier this year,” said Elvis Yang, general manager of auto product practice at J.D. Power China. “Design-related problems continue to affect user experience and satisfaction, both in the new-ownership period and the long-term ownership period. In fact, with the intelligence evolution, both hardware and software will affect the quality dependability. Looking ahead, automakers need to form the strategic thinking of ‘integration’ in the R&D stage to improve the ability of software and hardware collaborative iteration.”
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