DETROIT (Reuters)-problems with new technologies, including an awkward control system for its radio pounded Ford Motor Co (F N) ranking in a closely watched ranking, just a year after the U.S. led his rivals of the mass market.
Reversal of fortune, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) namesake brand, which last year, fell to its lowest ever rankings due to a series of damaging the calls, pulled out a corresponding bounce, according to the influential US consumer study published Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates.
U.S. automaker Ford, just to avoid bankruptcy and a Government bailout, saw the slide of the namesake Mark 23-his lowest spot in a decade, down from fifth place last year, which represented, its highest ranking ever. Toyota bounced from 7 to 21 last year.
"Ford is on the Board, certainly in the mass market, to try to bring new technology in vehicles, said the vice President of David Sargent, J.D. Power's global search of the vehicle."With that comes some risk that there will be no unexpected problems and this is exactly what happened.
"There is a large amount of parity between different vehicles and different brands, so if you have a significant problem in a particular area, that can really set back in terms of ranking," he added.
Toyota's luxury brand Lexus captured the top spot, climbing from fourth last year.
J.D. Power study, which faced difficulties from the new record owners of cars in the first 90 days of ownership, was conducted between February and may this year.
The results of the survey, the most comprehensive quality of new cars, are used heavily in the auto industry marketing and are seen as influential in shaping consumer perceptions. It is also seen as a barometer for the values and resale as a proxy for warranty costs.
RESTART A CAR?
Ford customers are automotive audio and internal control systems, too complex or sometimes unusable, Sargent said: "it is not easy to restart a drive as a computer."
Mark Fields, Ford President of the Americas, said Tuesday before the release of the survey that the assessments of the quality of the company would be "mixed" for the year.
Ford has been dinged early in the year when the influential magazine Consumer Reports did not give a rating of "recommended" to his SUV Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX due to the complexity of touch MyFord and MyLincoln touch systems.
Ford has acknowledged these problems, making changes software and customers by offering education at Ford dealers. It also said Tuesday it is working to facilitate the use of voice control systems in its vehicles and make improvements on some of its engines.
"As we see the problems in our reporting, we miss them and quickly address them," fields said.
Ford, whose F-150 pickup truck ranked No. 6 overall before the Toyota Tundra truck at no. 12, reiterated on Thursday moved quickly to address consumer complaints and quality is back on track.
On average throughout the industry, American consumers reported 107 problems to 100 vehicles sold, an improvement from 109 problems last year and a performance of all time best in the history of 25 years of the study.
However, the industry average for the new or redesigned vehicles slid heavily the 10 percent to 122 problems to 100 vehicles, J.D. Power said. The decline was sharper in the engine and transmission, as well as the category audio, navigation and entertainment.
Software to improve fuel efficiency sometimes leads to the engine or transmission "hesitation" when accelerating or changing gears, J.D. Power said.
Meanwhile, rates problem in category audio and entertainment jumped 18 percent, while many consumers complained their hands-free voice-activated systems were not always intuitive or not function properly.
U.S. carmakers in recent years have invested heavily in an attempt to bridge the gap with Japanese carmakers, led by Toyota and Honda Motor Co. (7267. T), which had established a reputation for eliminating defects from engineering and production. However, after finishing on average before the import brands for the first time ever last year, they again this year.
General Motors Co. (GM.N) Cadillac GMC truck and luxury brands were the only ones among top U.S. carmakers to industry average, coming in 9 and 10 seats. Only the top 10 brands in the survey topped the industry average.
GM Chevrolet and Buick brands ranked 14 and 20 of the 32 brands measured. Mark Ford Lincoln finished 17TH, while Chrysler (FIA.Jeep and Dodge brands, Ram, I) classified 16, 22, 25 and 32, respectively.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit, additional editing by Dave Zimmerman)
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