DEARBORN, Mich. — Quality should be Job 1 at Ford again.
The brand’s ranking fell 10 spots in Consumer Reports’ annual auto-reliability survey, hurt by glitchy touch screens and transmissions. It ranks 20th out of 28 major brands, based on a survey of the magazine’s subscribers.
The automaker had been closing the quality gap with Japanese brands in recent years, but it may need to take its own advice from a 1980s ad campaign, which told viewers that “Quality is Job 1” at the company.
Japanese automakers continued to dominate the survey’s top rankings. Brands from Toyota, Honda and Mazda held the top nine spots in the 2011 study, while Chrysler’s Jeep was the top U.S. brand.
The findings are based on surveys taken last spring of magazine subscribers who own or lease 1.3 million vehicles from the 2002 to 2011 model years. The magazine uses the findings to predict reliability of 2012 models.
At Ford, magazine subscribers found problems with the MyFordTouch and MyLincolnTouch dashboard control screens, saying they froze or were difficult to use, said David Champion, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports. The screens control cabin temperature, the radio and other functions. Also, the company’s new small cars, the Focus compact and Fiesta subcompact, have new automatic transmissions that shift often and awkwardly, Champion said.
Although most of the transmission problems were rated as minor, many subscribers said the cars seemed to shift at will, especially at low speeds, Champion said.
“It’s as if it’s got a brain of its own,” he said. “I think a lot of people think there’s something wrong with it.”
For the most part, older models have better reliability than new or revamped models, Champion said.
At Chrysler, however, new or significantly revamped models led its resurgence. Champion said the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan, the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs helped the company improve its ranking.
“They seem to be totally transfixed on getting it right,” Champion said of Chrysler.
