Ford And Its Dealers Work To Fix The Quality Problems

When launched its redesigned Explorer in December, Rasmussen Ford of Storm Lake, Iowa, initially had a hard time getting the hot-selling crossover.

Then a customer who bought one elsewhere brought his Explorer into Rasmussen because he was having trouble with the vehicle’s telematics.

Ford didn’t finish last, but it was this year’s most prominent loser.

Last year Ford was the top-ranked mass-market brand and No. 5 overall, and Lincoln was No. 7 overall. This year Ford plunged to No. 23 and Lincoln to No. 17.

Their rankings got hammered by owner complaints on two fronts:

1. Electronic systems, which had early glitches and hard-to-use controls.

2. Powertrains, tweaked for maximum fuel economy, that seemed to hesitate when shifting gears or accelerating.

J.D. Power said complaints of those types were common industrywide for all manufacturers with redesigned or refreshed product launches. And Ford had both: new vehicles and electronic systems such as MyFord Touch and Sync.

Says John Felice, general manager of Ford and Lincoln marketing: “We listen, we learn, we improve.”

But the challenge, ultimately, will fall to dealers.

“We trust the dealers to know what they need to do in their own markets,” Felice says.

Dealers say it’s a challenge to keep staffs up to speed.

“The level of technology on the vehicles, much like cell phones, has moved up so far that the average consumer has not kept up with it,” said Robert Valdes, general manager of El Centro Motors in El Centro, Calif. “In many places, neither has the staff.”