When Ford starts bringing its much-delayed and highly-anticipated small car designs from Europe to the United States beginning with the 2010 model year, the Dearborn automaker claims that assembly quality will be a marked improvement over perceived benchmark Toyota .
Speaking to industry executives in Traverse City, Mich., Ford’s VP of Global Quality, Bennie Fowler, told The Detroit News that Ford’s goal for the new European-designed, U.S.-built small cars will be 800 problems per 1,000 vehicles. To accomplish that lofty goal (more than 500 problems below the industry average), Ford plans to send between five and 10 hourly United Auto Workers members to a Wayne State University program, where they’ll be trained and certified in Six Sigma black belts – industry-speak for quality experts.
Though recent Ford advertising has mentioned that quality is now on par with Toyota , the Blue Oval is apparently not satisfied with being Toyota’s mere equal in quality rankings like J.D. Power and Consumer Reports.
