Ford Mondeo Top Midsize In 2024 China Dependability Study

The Ford Mondeo (and Fusion) disappeared from much of the world years ago, but the sedan lives on in China, regardless. There, the Ford Mondeo remains a popular entity among consumers, not to mention a vehicle that has also accumulated its fair share of accolades. Much of that recognition stems from the Mondeo’s proven reliability, a shining quality that carried through to its complete redesign not too terribly long ago, and that’s once again the case in the latest installment of J.D. Power’s China Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS).

In the 2022 version of J.D. Power’s China VDS, the Ford Mondeo ranked as the third best mid-size sedan on the market, behind the Volkswagen Passat and Toyota Camry. However, the all-new Mondeo rose to first-place in its segment last year – ahead of the second place Volkswagen Lamando and third place Hyundai Mistra – and it retained that title for 2024, too. This year, the Ford Mondeo beat out the second-place Toyota Avalon and Buick LaCrosse, joining the Ford Edge L, which topped the large SUV segment, while the Changan Ford joint-venture ranked third among all mass-market brands.

It wasn’t all good news for China’s automotive market in this year’s VDS, however, as overall, an increase in design-related problems resulted in an industry-wide decline in dependability – the problems reported per 100 vehicles (PP100) rose by 9.3 year-over-year, in fact, coming in at 190 PP100 this year. J.D. Power derives this data from feedback it gathers from the owners of 13- to 48-month-old vehicles over the past six months, with a lower PP100 score reflecting higher quality.

“The decline in China’s vehicle dependability performance in 2024 should serve as a wake-up call for automakers,” said Elvis Yang, general manager of auto product practice at J.D. Power China. “In recent years, the pace of new model launches in the Chinese market has accelerated and development cycles have continuously shortened. Balancing the speed of new model launches with high product reliability and durability will be a critical long-term challenge for automakers. Especially as Chinese brands gradually enter international markets, the long-term reliability of their products will also affect the resale value and new-vehicle sales in overseas markets. Additionally, the rapid iteration of technology features makes ‘timeless design’ in infotainment and driver assistance systems increasingly important. If owners’ experiences cannot be continually optimized through OTA updates, they are likely to experience dissatisfaction through comparison.”