It’s no secret that Ford quality has declined in recent years, which has prompted the automaker to make several changes to the way it operates. Aside from simply focusing on quality, FoMoCo is working to catch issues before vehicles have been delivered to customers, even pausing production of models like the redesigned 2023 Ford Super Duty and 2024 Ford Mustang, as well as the refreshed 2023 Ford Escape when problems do pop up. Opinions on when Ford quality might improve vary from months to years, but in the meantime, the automaker outlined the changes that it has already made to rectify the issue during its recent shareholders meeting, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Many of these changes debuted with the recent launch of the new Super Duty, as CEO Jim Farley pointed out that the automaker began using a longer, 25-mile pre-delivery quality shakedown during which employees scrutinize the vehicle much the same way a customer might during a test drive. In the case of the 2023 Super Duty, the company performed 28,000 of these short trips, looking for defects during that process.
FoMoCo is also driving its new vehicles more during its real-world testing phase, tripling the number of Super Duty pickups it subjected to towing tests. Additionally, the company has added more quality checks on its assembly lines – some of which are performed by artificial intelligence.
“Simply put, you are not going to see us launch product until it meets or exceeds the highest quality standards that we’ve ever had,” Farley said. “This is what we’re doing for all vehicles, like we’re going through now for (the new) Mustang and other upcoming exciting products. We are starting to see our initial quality improve markedly in North America. We’re taking a range of actions, as you would expect, to eliminate any defects in the first place. And we are totally focused on finding and fixing issues that do come up. The way we portray this inside the company is, we always want to put quality first because that’s the most fundamental commitment to our customers, and our customers, we want to treat like family.”
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Comments
More BS from Ford. They’ve been talking quality for decades, but rarely deliver it. At best they put out a second tier quality product. I purchased new ones every decade from the 80s to the 2000 model year and none of them were stellar quality. It’s not like they have slipped, they’ve just NEVER really been very good.
My 2013 Ford C max is the most reliable car I have owned. But 1 0 years later Ford Quality is an oxymoron.
While that good…need to start with design….of engine , transmissions, etc…that where they have big ticket problems….
I have a 2007 f150 183 thousands miles on it ,every thing still works even the original radiator hoses but the frame is completely rusted thur frame is no good, very sad just sad