AutoPacific cites Ford in strong showing.

by Paul A. Eisenstein (2007-06-10)



Problem-plagued Ford Motor Co. has gotten another critical endorsement, this one from the 2007 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards, an annual measure of quality and customer service.

The automaker's Lincoln luxury brand narrowly lost a four-way shoot-out, slipping into second, just behind Nissan's highline Infiniti brand, announced the market research firm, AutoPacific, Inc. Meanwhile, Lincoln 's new MKX crossover was named top-ranked truck, while the Ford division's new Edge crossover was best in its category.

Ford's strong showing underscored the findings of another recent quality report, the widely published Initial Quality Survey, from J.D. Power and Associates, where Lincoln shot to third place, while the sibling Mercury division ranked eighth, and the Ford division came in tenth.

But there were other, notable differences between Power's IQS and AutoPacific's VSA. For one thing, while General Motors' flagship Cadillac division plunged in Power's rankings, from seventh to 25th place, it tied Lincoln in the VSA. The big surprise was Infiniti's sudden climb up the quality ladder, according to the VSA, while it was only ninth in the IQS.

Both surveys agreed that Toyota 's own luxury division, Lexus, is no longer the absolute quality benchmark, slipping to second, according to Power, and fourth in the AutoPacific poll. But the gap between first and fourth was minimal, Infiniti scoring 679 points, Lexus 676. The industry average was 632.


Judging the differences

How can two owner polls show such sharp differences? It depends on how one measures the word, "quality." Power's better known study focuses on the number of complaints reported by a survey sample of 97,000 2007 model-year vehicle owners - what is often called a "Things-Gone-Wrong" survey. The VSA also looks for those "Things-Gone-Right," which reveal the ways in which manufacturers, like Ford or Infiniti, satisfy their owners.

"Often times, the most satisfying vehicle is the one with the most personality, not the one that is screwed together the best," noted George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, in an overview of the 2007 VSA.

Satisfaction can be improved, in fact, by the way a brand handle the repair of a defect. And that can provide a significant advantage in a study like this when a carmaker is introducing all-new vehicles. As the Power IQS underscored, all-new models tend to have more early quality problems than products that have been on the market for several years. But the VSA reveals that twelve of the most satisfying top 28 vehicles - which won or tied in 25 separate categories - are all new for 2007.

Of those, 13 top cars wear Big Three badges, with seven Asian and three European car segment winners. In the 15 truck categories, seven are Detroit nameplates, with eight Japanese and Korean makes. Notably, DaimlerChrysler took no best-in-category award, while GM and Ford tied with six class leaders each. Ford took four, Hyundai and Nissan three apiece, and Honda grabbed two.

Emphasizing the fact that the VSA rewards brands that aren't always the best in pure quality metrics, Land Rover landed in 15th place, just above industry average. The British marque has traditionally been at the bottom of Power's IQS, this year suffering about 50 percent more reported problems than the industry average. HUMMER, which took seventh in the VSA, and Volkswagen, which AutoPacific ranked 11th, also fared far more poorly in Power's Things-Gone-Wrong count.

As one might expect, luxury car owners tended to be most satisfied with their vehicles, the average vehicle in the Premium Luxury Car segment scoring 678 points. (The BMW 7-Series and Lexus LS tied for first.) But Large Sport Utility competitors scored nearly as high, an average 675 points. (The winner the GMC Yukon XL.)

At the bottom of the rung were Compact SUVs, at 593 points and Economy Cars, at 566.

The 2007 VSA comprises the results of 24,000 U.S. new vehicle owners, who were asked about their experience after roughly 60 to 90 days of ownership.