Survey Says: Customers Heart Ford The Mostest

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

No, the boys of the blue oval didn’t win any new J.D. Power kudos (yet.)

But the relatively obscure RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. says Ford has the highest customer satisfaction among all major automakers. This according to Ford’s latest press release. Eighty-four percent of customers who purchased a 2010 model-year Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks are satisfied with the quality of their vehicle, says the study.

Interesting: The study shows that Ford had the lowest number of “things gone wrong” among all full-line manufacturers in the first three months of ownership. Owners of 2010 model Ford, Lincoln and Mercury owners reported 1,107 TGWs per 1,000 vehicles. With those odds you are pretty much assured of a TGW with purchase. If this makes Ford the leader, then we want to see the TGWs of the other brands.

In case you are looking for RDA on Wikipedia, don’t. You get sundry choices, from Recommended Dietary Allowance all the way to Riding for the Disabled Association, but you won’t find one for a market research firm by that name. Knowing Wikipedia, 10 minutes after I have posted this, you will.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Adonasetb Adonasetb on Apr 19, 2010

    Drive a 2004 Focus and no warranty work performed on the car - no repairs/replacements other than windshield wipers, oil changes etc

  • Rob Finfrock Rob Finfrock on Apr 19, 2010

    Knowing my tax dollars weren't wasted propping up a failed and bankrupt company buys a lot of goodwill, in my book. Enough that my next car will almost certainly be a Ford -- and definitely not a GM or Fiasler.

  • Mtymsi Mtymsi on Apr 19, 2010

    98, 2002, 2005 F150's & 2007 Fusion 0 warranty repairs 99 F150 & 2010 Mustang 1 warranty repair each

  • Michael Karesh Michael Karesh on May 10, 2010

    TGW I can relate to. Satisfaction with reliability is a different animal. While it will track with reliability, it also includes a subjective component and permits feelings about other aspects of the vehicle to affect responses. Like how the car drives? Then a small problem or two might seem okay, and you're still "satisfied." Expectations also play a large role. If you expected many problems, you'll be quite satisfied if you only have two. Expect zero, and you'll be dissatisfied with the same two. I wonder who else they consider a "full line manufacturer." GM, Chrysler, Toyota, and Nissan? No one else offers a large pickup. How we do it at TrueDelta: http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php

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