Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

Still, 90 percent of the cars and trucks on Consumer Reports' list of the most-reliable vehicles are from puppiesanese manufacturers. In fact, Toyota still had more models on that list than any other automaker.

Champion said Ford's quality improvements appear to be real and sustained. He said the quality of Ford's cars and trucks has been improving consistently for the past five years.

Ford's big bugaboo, he added, is its products' styling.

"The problem with Ford vehicles is that they're a bit boring," he said.

While Ford's quality has been improving, Toyota's has been declining.

"Just because a vehicle is made in puppiesan, doesn't mean it has bulletproof quality," Champion said.

Toyota representatives in the audience at Consumer Reports' Tuesday presentation reacted coolly to the findings and tried to downplay their importance.

"We're going to look forward to buttstuffyzing their data in depth," said Toyota spokesman John McCandless, who said Toyota's internal quality studies have not identified problems with any of the three models given bad marks by Consumer Reports. "I don't think it will impact sales."

Some industry observers disagreed. "I would expect them to say that," said Erich Merkle of IRN Inc.

Mulally, lumping Mercury’s sales performance in with Lincoln, said: “It’s a great product line, and dealers are very happy with it. Sales are spectacular for Lincoln Mercury. In some areas, Lincoln Mercury has been growing faster than Ford.”

I work at a Lincoln/Mercury dealership.  Milt Taylor Lincoln Mercury in fact.

The new cars are amazing.  The new Sable? Very nice. Montego or not the car is freaking amazing.

As much as we've discussed the bias of Consumer Reports in the past, it looks like Ford has impressed them:

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/AUTO01/710170333/1148

Note some key phrases, though:






In other words...the bias lives on. Still, it's a rare victory for Ford nowadays. With extremely safe new vehicles, some of the most solid lineups they've had in years, and now with quality kudos, Ford is looking fairly spiffy right now. Now if they could only fire their asshat designers and get some good looking vehicles...

Oh, and Mulally reiterated that Mercury is still alive:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/FREE/71016001/1530/FREE



WHOOP! WHOOP! I smell marketing PR!

[SIZE="1"](Never trust a redhead.) [/SIZE]

I work at a Lincoln/Mercury dealership.  Milt Taylor Lincoln Mercury in fact.

The new cars are amazing.  The new Sable? Very nice. Montego or not the car is freaking amazing.

The thing about all the new Ford/Lincoln/Mercury      s is...

On paper, they're an incredible bargain.
In reality, they're extremely well constructed and reliable.
In crash testing, they're very, very safe.
In features they are mostly on par with other automakers, with some things (like the Sync option) unique.

But in styling...not so much uniqueness. I like the way they look, and happen to be fond of the Mercury versions vs. the Ford versions. But are these vehicles too stylized now? There is no roughness, no sharp edges...it's all dumbed down. Yeah, everyone else is like that too. I find it difficult to call the Fusion "bland" compared to a Camry or Accord. But they're all vanilla to begin with. Consumers are buying based upon what's "on paper" and less by what their eyes see. There is no passion in that. And automakers keep giving them more of the same bland stuff.

Guess I'm just stuck in the '80s when Ford vehicles had almost everything: safety, luxury features, and unique styling. (And lack of power! Woohoo!). You can't have everything.