Consumer Reports survey: Ford reliability improves
DETROIT - Toyota Motor Corp.'s vehicle quality declined while Ford Motor Co., which passed the Japanese automaker this year as second in US sales, showed improvement, Consumer Reports said in its annual reliability survey.
Toyota's redesigned V-6 Camry sedan, four-wheel drive V-8 Tundra pickup truck, and all-wheel drive Lexus GS sedan were rated below average and were dropped from the "recommended" list, the magazine said yesterday. Toyota fell to third from first.
Ford was the best among US-based companies, with 41 of 44 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brand vehicles rated average or better. The results reinforce Ford's efforts to boost quality after glitches with new-vehicle introductions early this decade. The automaker hasn't increased its US market share since 1995 and posted a record $12.6 billion loss last year.
At Ford, "the reliability of their cars has steadily improved over the years, and is showing consistency," David Champion, senior director of the magazine's auto test center, said.
The Consumer Reports results cover 1998 through 2007 models and are based on reader surveys done this year. The magazine takes the surveys along with vehicle tests to decide which models to recommend. Consumer Reports' statisticians and engineers use the data to predict reliability of 2008 vehicles.
Toyota in this year's survey was behind Honda Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru. Consumer Reports didn't give additional details, such as Ford's ranking.
Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota's US sales unit, said he will study Consumer Reports' data. Toyota's own information doesn't show deterioration, he said.
"We look at warranty data, and the warranty numbers have actually been falling quite rapidly in the last three or four years," he said. "Everything we're seeing indicates that quality is in fact getting better."
The magazine said it recommends the four-cylinder and gasoline-electric hybrid versions of Toyota's Camry and the rear-drive version of its Lexus GS.
Consumer Reports said it previously recommended redesigned Toyota models even without enough reliability data "because of the automaker's excellent track record." The revamped vehicles now won't be considered until it accumulates sufficient data.
The magazine said 93 percent of Ford models from its Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury US brands scored average or better for reliability. That compares to 49 percent for General Motors Corp. and 67 percent for Chrysler LLC.
