Glitchy touch screens and bad transmissions caused Ford Motors, Inc. to fall 10 spots in Consumer Reports’ annual auto reliability survey down 10 spots from the same period in 2010. Under their new ranking Ford now sits at 20 out of 28 major brands.
The news comes after Ford spent years closing the gap on quality with Japanese automakers however the only U.S. brand to top the lists 15 top brands in 2011 was Chrysler.
Findings for the survey were taken in the spring and based off Consumer Reports magazine subscribers who owned or leased 1.3 million vehicles from 2002 through 2011 model years.
The reporting magazine is considered the number three recommendation source for Americans behind only brand loyalty and recommendations from family and friends.
Among Ford’s problems were issues with the MyFordTouch system and MyLincolnTouch dashboard which users say are prone to freezing while being overly difficult to use. Ford buyers also said the automatic transmission systems used in the Focus compact and Fiesta subcompact vehicles tended to shift awkwardly.
Ford’s group vice president for quality Bennie Fowler says the company takes customer feedback seriously and they are immediately looking into the issues revealed by the Consumer Reports survey.
There was some good news for Ford as its Lincoln luxury brand moved up one spot over last year to 14th.
Leading this years list for a second year in a row was Toyota Scion which was followed by the Toyota Lexus brand and then Honda’s Acura.
For their part Fiat has done a great job since purchasing Chrysler, allowing the company to move form 27th place last year to 15th place in 2011. Chrysler’s Jeep brand rose 7 spots this year to finish in 13th.
Are you surprised to learn that Ford’s quality slipped so far in such a short period of time?