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Ford Reliability Gains on Honda, Toyota, Survey Says

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co.'s reliability increased this year and is now close to Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., according to a survey by Consumer Reports.

The Yonkers, New York-based magazine disclosed the results today at an Automotive Press Association meeting in Detroit.

``This has been a systematic, structural change within Ford,'' said David Champion, director of the magazine's auto test center. Almost all Ford vehicles have above-average reliability, he said.

The findings may help Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford win back customers after it lost U.S. market share every year since 1995. Ford has publicized the results of studies it commissioned showing the quality of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands is near the same levels as Toyota and Honda.

``They are really doing what Toyota did, small, incremental changes over time, which is exactly what they should do,'' said Aaron Bragman, an analyst with Global Insight Inc. in Troy, Michigan.

Ford's overall reliability was reduced by older truck models that are soon to be replaced, Champion said. One of the models was the diesel version of the F-250 pickup truck, said Douglas Love, a spokesman for Consumer Reports.

``It's great to have third-party publication recognition of the progress we've made,'' Bennie Fowler, Ford's group vice president of global quality, said in an interview. ``The No. 1 thing we want is to get better and more consistent over time.''

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