Last year wasn’t exactly a good one for Ford Motor Company in terms of quality, as it ranked as the most recalled manufacturer of 2022. However, the automaker has taken steps to right the ship in that regard, and it seems as if Ford executive chair Bill Ford is seemingly pleased with the direction the automaker is heading in terms of those quality fixes, according to Reuters.
“We probably had so much focus on the future that perhaps we took our eye off the ball a little bit on the present,” Bill Ford said of the automaker’s past actions. “Jim’s got a full court press on it, and we’re already starting to see results.” Farley is a “fantastic CEO,” he added, noting that “this is the best leadership team in my memory. We’ve got plenty of resources to get done what we need to get done. And now we have to execute.”
Ford’s quality woes have been well-documented to this point, and aren’t necessarily limited to one specific area or vehicle. Rather, a number of issues have popped up in recent months, with a number of models being dinged for various teething problems. That list includes the Ford F-150 PowerBoost, which ranked as the least reliable vehicle in Consumer Reports most recently reliability survey, the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford Bronco Sport lost their recommended status, and the Ford Explorer ranked among the 10 least reliable vehicles, to boot.
As for Ford itself, the brand ranked well below average in the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study and Consumer Reports‘ annual reliability study, suffering a substantial drop in both reports year-over-year. However, The Blue Oval has made several moves to rectify this ongoing issue over the past several months. Aside from simply taking actions to make quality a focus in its operations, Farley also brought in turnaround expert Josh Halliburton to be the company’s new executive director of quality. However, while Halliburton believes Ford’s quality woes will begin to subside this year, CEO Jim Farley isn’t quite as optimistic.
We’ll have more on Ford’s quality woes soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
Bill Ford is also part of the problem, since he’s not resigning, the problems will continue. Henry Ford would fire “executives” like this guy.
Henry Ford bankrupt his first car company.
Was kicked out of the second.
Nearly bankrupt this current version of Ford twice (in late 20’s and mid 1940’s).
At the end, Henry’s key player was a thug, Roosevelt released HF2 from navy service because it was feared Ford would go illiquid, Henry 1, had to be forced to resign by Clara under threat of divorce, and the management of the company and culture had to be rebuilt by HF2, Ernie Breech, and the Wiz Kids.
I don’t think you know what you are talking about.
A true “yes” man with his own agenda. He needs to resign and leave the country.
Can you be any more stupid? **
My God NC, what is wrong with you?
** Exibit 1: “A true “yes” man with his own agenda.”
Analysis: yes men rarely have their own agenda. They are far too busy saying yes to others’ agendas.
Ahh yesss….the official version of Fomoco history is out again. Sure am glad we have you to keep them straight . Shame the world doesn’t agree with you….must be tough to sleep at night….ehh?
Oh hi Oleg, you must not know any Detroit history. That’s ok, but you might be smart to not comment on things you don’t know about.
My heart is warmed by your gladness of having me.
The only good thing about this article is that Bill Ford is claiming support for Farley. That’s a good sign that he won’t be here long. Hopefully, Ford will find a CEO who knows his rear from a hole in the ground.
There is not ONE launch that Farley hasn’t screwed up. Quality is at an all time low. Very poor 4th qtr results when others were printing money, and the only thing Jim leads in is recalls.
Congrats Jim, you’ve managed to alienate your dealer by telling them you want to get rid of them. Alienate your employees by telling them they are the right employees for the future and alienate your suppliers by telling them you are going to get rid of them and do this in house.
Is there anyone left for this guy to piss off? Gee, I wonder why things are such a mess at Ford. SMFH
If nothing is allowed to change, nothing can change.
Sometimes you gotta gore some sacred cows to make a change omlet man.
Also, literally everything Ford has done under Farley had been done against the headwinds of a pandemic induced supply chain disruption the likes of which have not been seen since WW2.
In addition you are blaming the cleanup guy for both being saddled with and having to clean up the product and cultural baggage of his predecessors.
This is true… the jury is still out as to how successful Mr. Farley will be. As I noted in an earlier piece, GM and Barra are making choices not to compete in product with Ford that historically they would have jumped at. ie Raptor R or a gas Bronco. The race to be best is going to be exciting.
You must get paid to stick up for Farley….ever get tired of the liberal mantra as an all purpose excuse ? Farley is a big boy getting big boy $$$ to SOLVE problems….not to good so far…ehh
Oh Oleg, again with the silly boy nonsense.
The previous commenter said the jury is out, that’s hardly sticking up for, and would be a quite weak excuse.
How are things down on K-street? You ever see any of the folks that pay for your sock puppetry?
Yeah, you mean Covid? When the gov’t was handing out money, you could borrow money for next to free, and OEMs were using the supply chain debacle to increase prices while decreasing features and cost? You mean that pandemic where a blind monkey with a dart in the dark could hit a winning strategy?
Which begs the question; in a time where selling high priced, (what should be) extremely profitable cars was easier then selling a life boat on the titanic, how exactly is it that Farley and Ford managed to screw it up so bad? GM seem to do just find under the same “headwinds”.
And, I really question your automotive IQ suggesting that the pandemic was “headwinds” for OEMs. The pandemic was a gift for OEMs. One where the government was handing out free money and BEV tax incentives, while the Fed was keeping interest rates lower than Ford’s last quality rating (that’s really low in case you are wondering). It was/is a veritable bonanza for OEMs. No incentives, no inventory, just build to order, albeit poorly executed, it was extremely profitable for most every other OEM.
I gather from your post that you are the self appointed minister of disinformation on this site and very likely read your posts back to yourself out loud, over and over with that same grin on your face used by the grinch who stole Christmas as he contemplates robbing Whoville. I’d appreciate all of it if you actually knew what you were talking about at least half the time. So, do better. Try harder. Don’t be so predictable. I find myself somewhat embarrassed for you based on some of your responses.
Oh oh K-streeter Joe is really peeved about the FUDster tag team’s business model of planting disinfo without being called out is not working out. (That he’s now going full projection and scudding me of disinfo, me, the one who has both the chips and the receipts.)
Oh Joe I don’t care about you,
Because my telling it true,
Is loved by Cindy Lou Who.
grinchheartgrowingwithjoy.gif
All I can say is WOW. He’s pleased with the direction the company’s headed! WOW!
I’m sure he’d smile knowing you are so excited by this.
As the owner of my 6th Ford product I have to say I’m honestly done with the quality issues of the product. For example, if you look at the fit and finish of a 2023 KIA vs a 2023 Ford the KIA unfortunately kills it in every metric. $60,000 now for a 2023 Explorer with numerous feature deletes due to supplier issues. The body panels don’t line up, there is wind noise at highway speeds, the SYNC3 system is the most poorly designed and executed multimedia software in the automotive business. It’s time to look elsewhere for my next vehicle.
The Korean’s fit and finish may be better, but ask most professional mechanics what they thinks of their powertrains and you will get an earfull. Many will tell you that any significant engine work is just a waste of money.
So Nob what are you driving now?
How has it been?
Or are you just engaging in performative fulmination for a K-street patron?
Remember on Ford commercials it was said: Quality is Job One. I guess not anymore. I have a 2012 Focus with a 140,000 miles and have all the original parts except normal wear. That’s when they had some quality. Another mistake they made is that they stopped making cars. Look at the foreign car makers. They still make cars.
Ok sweet K-street Larry, that summer wine you were conned into drinking is cool aid.
Your problem free Focus was literally recalled 10 times.
If Ford was serious, they would combat the current issues by offering 20 year/ 200K mile warranty on all new vehicles without any loopholes to get out of paying.
The 20/200 might be a bit extreme but they could go with a stronger warranty.
Perhaps they will on model E, as a warranty costs you nothing if nothing goes wrong in the warranty period.
I’m a die hard Ford fan but recently I bought a 2022 explorer and the damn thing leaks water in the back somewhere and ford can’t find it. Total horse $h1t. I think I’ll be looking else where for another vehicle. Ford definitely lost my trust in making a great vehicle.
What are you talking about?
Water leaks are nearly the easiest thing to find.
You should try a different dealer.
Maybe consider lowering the MSRPs on a pickup truck so that the average truck owner can afford one? MSRPs have skyrocketed, primarily in Ford’s attempt to “earn” the record profits their dealerships were raking in when they added $10,000… $15,000… $20,000 to the MSRP during the pandemic market. That’s now over, but the MSRPs remain.
Ford’s recent quality problems started with J Hackett, as he distracted leadership and squandered billions on things like Argo. Farley made things worse by denying senior management’s role in the quality issues… he simply blamed the engineers. Yet Jim Part 2 also has distracted leadership. Why? To appease WCF2 with an EV-centric reorganization that branded the traditional side of the business as baby sitters (and 3rd class citizens with no career future) until Ford E and Ford Pro can carry the company.
It’s called facing reality head on and acting on it.
As for the guys with run out career paths, this is inevitable and universal for every industry, or technique, all ford can do is be up front about it and treat those guys decently until giving them a decent severance.
I don’t think any team can ever top the group Alan Mulally led.
Alan brought a lot of common sense optimization to the organization but he wasn’t flawless, it was on his watch that we had the transmission debacle in the Fiesta and Focus.
And even though he retired in 2014 the seeds were already laid for some of the issues we’ve seen since then.
I bought a new Ford 150 two years ago it had the coyote V8 it used oil from day one about 1 quart for every 2000 miles they told me at the dealership that’s why they put a 7 quart capacity had a few electrical problems like speed control quit working as soon as warranty was up never got fixed. Otherwise it was a decent truck. This fall I was looking for another new truck I went out and price of Ford they had one on the lot I went online at night and I found a Chevy it had more features like leather seats but it didn’t have the moonroof or the large mirrors I bought it for 8000 cheaper than a Ford.The Chevy I have about 7000miles on now There’s no oil consumption I love the truck Ford has a big problem
Did you like use voice to text to compose this stream of consciousness, or did somebody hide your box of punctuation?