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DETROIT — Ford Motor Co’s ranking in a closely watched quality survey plunged only a year after topping all mass-market brands as problems with new technology hurt the automaker.
In a reversal of fortune, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp’s namesake brand, which last year tumbled to its lowest ranking ever due to a series of damaging recalls, pulled off a corresponding rebound, according to the influential study of U.S. consumers released Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates.
Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and a government bailout, saw its namesake brand slide to 23rd — its lowest spot in a decade — after leading all mass-market brands last year in 5th place, its highest ranking ever. Toyota rebounded to 7th from 21st last year. The last time Ford ranked lower was 25th in 2001.
“Ford is on the leading edge, certainly in the mass market, of trying to bring new technology into the vehicles,” said David Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice president of global vehicle research. “With that comes some risk that there will be unforeseen problems and that’s exactly what happened.
“There’s a great deal of parity between the different vehicles and different brands, so if you have a significant problem in a particular area, that can really set you back in terms of the rankings,” he added.
Related: Many Chrysler vehicles still ‘mediocre’, Consumer Reports finds
Related: The worst cars on the road today
Toyota’s Lexus luxury brand captured the top spot, moving up from 4th last year. It was followed by Honda Motor Co Ltd’s namesake and Acura brands, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, Mazda and last year’s leader, Porsche.
In a reversal of fortune, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp’s namesake brand, which last year tumbled to its lowest ranking ever due to a series of damaging recalls, pulled off a corresponding rebound, according to the influential study of U.S. consumers released Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates.
Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and a government bailout, saw its namesake brand slide to 23rd — its lowest spot in a decade — after leading all mass-market brands last year in 5th place, its highest ranking ever. Toyota rebounded to 7th from 21st last year. The last time Ford ranked lower was 25th in 2001.
“Ford is on the leading edge, certainly in the mass market, of trying to bring new technology into the vehicles,” said David Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice president of global vehicle research. “With that comes some risk that there will be unforeseen problems and that’s exactly what happened.
“There’s a great deal of parity between the different vehicles and different brands, so if you have a significant problem in a particular area, that can really set you back in terms of the rankings,” he added.
Related: Many Chrysler vehicles still ‘mediocre’, Consumer Reports finds
Related: The worst cars on the road today
Toyota’s Lexus luxury brand captured the top spot, moving up from 4th last year. It was followed by Honda Motor Co Ltd’s namesake and Acura brands, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, Mazda and last year’s leader, Porsche.
