Ford Quality On Par With Toyota

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The quality of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles is virtuallyequal to that of Toyota and Nissan, according to the firstquarter 2007 model-year Global Quality Research System (GQRS) report.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand vehicles are at 1456 TGWscompared with Nissan at 1457 and Toyota at 1453 TGWs per 1,000 vehicles.

"Our latest performance continues a trend that has seen FordMotor Company significantly improve its vehicles over the lastfew years," said Bennie Fowler, vice president, Ford GlobalQuality. "We have more work to do, but there is no questionthat Ford Motor Company builds world-class vehicles. We can compete with anybody."

Ford Motor Company reduced its corporate TGW rate by eightpercent, bettering the overall industry improvement of two percent.

The Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion swept the first two spotsfor TGW leadership in the highly competitive mid-size carsegment, which includes the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. At910, Milan had the lowest TGW level of any Ford product. Fusion recorded 1066 TGW.

Two other company models achieved segment leadership in TGW:the Ford Shelby GT500 (Sports Car) and Ford Expedition EL(Large Traditional Utility). The Lincoln Navigator leads inboth TGW and customer satisfaction for the Large PremiumUtility category. The Navigator and Expedition EL havecustomer satisfaction scores of 85 percent, tops among all Ford Motor Company vehicles.

"Our new products are launching with excellent quality, whichis the result of improvements in both manufacturing andproduct development processes," said Fowler. "That proves we're doing the right things."

Honda's 1313 TGW was best in the survey.

First quarter 2007 model-year GQRS data was gathered fromcustomers who registered new vehicles from September 2006through November 2006 and owned their cars and trucks forthree months. The new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovervehicles and F-Series Super Duty were not included in the research.

GQRS surveys have historically tracked J.D. Power studies.
Produced for Ford Motor Company

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