Ford is one of the biggest and most established brands on the American automotive market and beyond. However, like every other company, it has had its ups and downs over the years. Recently, however, Ford has very much been on the rise, thanks to a major quality improvement strategy that has seen it rocket to the top of JD Power’s Initial Quality Study.
Ford has explained the details of the strategy that allowed it to achieve this amazing accomplishment: from recruitment to software improvements, no stone was left unturned in the pursuit of higher vehicle quality. Every part of the company was involved in this effort, which has paid off with a sharp upward move in the JD Power rankings. Here is what Ford did to make its comeback happen.
An Achievement 16 Years In The Making: Ford Is Back On Top
2025 Ford F-150 XLT Crew Cab 4×4 Blue Side View TowingFord
Ford has plenty of reasons to celebrate this year: It has been ranked as the top mainstream brand in the JD Power 2026 Initial Quality Study, 16 years after the last time the brand earned the top spot. Its upward climb has been an extremely rapid one: just three years ago, Ford had ranked at number 15. Its year-on-year improvement has been the largest among mainstream brands, with 41 fewer problems per 100 vehicles compared to the 2025 study.
While Ford’s top ranking is found in the mainstream brands category, the Blue Oval also scored third among all brands, and second among corporations. Meanwhile, Lincoln, its luxury sub-brand, also moved up in the rankings, moving from eighth place to sixth place in the premium brands category.
2025 Ford F-150 XLT Blue Front Angled View TowingFord
While the brand as a whole has earned a spot at the top of the rankings, three of the vehicles in its lineup also won in their respective segments: the F-150, the Mustang, and the Super Duty. The Escape, Explorer, Expedition, and Maverick were not far behind, earning places in the top three in their own segments. Ford has the highest percentage of top-three-ranking models of any automaker.
“This is a proud day for everyone at Ford, and the result of years of intensive work across our company […] Many doubted that an American company with a huge American workforce could compete with the world’s best on quality, let alone reach the top. But we put our heads down and worked together every day to deliver for our customers. Today, Ford is not only the most American automaker but also the gold standard for new vehicle quality.”
-Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO
Ford’s accomplishment was the result of improvement in multiple different categories, including powertrain reliability and infotainment quality(which saw the largest jump up, at 12 points over the industry average).
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What Is The JD Power Initial Quality Study?
2026 Ford Mustang EcoBoost. Coupe. FastbackFord
The study that gave Ford its top ranking is one of the most important methods the US automotive industry uses to benchmark vehicle quality. The JD Power U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS) is now approaching the start of its fifth decade, having been introduced in 1987. Over the years, the methods involved in the study have evolved with the progress of technology, and today’s IQS is more detailed and accurate than ever.
The study analyzes 227 different types of problems, which are grouped into nine categories (Climate, Driving Assistance, Driving Experience, Exterior, Features/Controls/Displays, Infotainment, Interior, Powertrain, and Seats). Once the data is processed, the result outlines quality differences across models, brands, years, and even individual manufacturing facilities. Quality expectations across customer groups, and variations in quality within a single brand’s lineup, are also some of the factors the study helps us understand.
Ford Mustang Dark Horse SCFord
Customer feedback and vehicle repair data are combined in the enhanced IQS, creating a complete picture that enables automakers to identify problems quickly and tackle them immediately. Manufacturers also now have the opportunity to access this data on a monthly basis, rather than relying on a yearly study. This allows them to make improvements halfway through a model year if necessary, rather than having to wait until the following model year.
How Ford Pulled It Off: People…
2024 Ford F-150 Assembly Detroit Truck PlantFord
In order to climb to the top of the JD Power ranking, Ford had to adopt a multi-pronged strategy. People are one of the core elements of this strategy: the way Ford’s team works and collaborates is crucial in determining the quality of its output. A number of steps were taken to improve and optimize the human side of the equation.
Ford F-150s at the factory in Dearborn, MI.Ford
Making it easier for different teams to work together was one of these steps. Over the past decade, the impact of the pandemic and the increasing complexity of new vehicles meant traditional processes no longer worked for Ford. Remote work became more commonplace, and teams became increasingly specialized: The company found a way to help them collaborate more effectively by bringing four separate teams (Vehicle Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Quality) under a single industrial system, with Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra at the helm. That system eventually grew to include the company’s digital, design and global industrial teams, evolving into the Product Creation and Industrialization organization.
“Bringing them together allows us to look at the entire ecosystem of a vehicle – from the intricacies of software development to the deepest tier of the supply chain to the plant floor — as one continuous, collaborative flow […] We rallied the whole company around a clear vision: Quality Comes First. That means hard-wiring rigorous processes deep into the way we work, building a culture of relentless problem-solving and recognizing our teams when they prevent issues from reaching customers.”
-Kumar Galhotra, Chief Operating Officer
A recruitment drive to bring in the expertise Ford needed was another key element of its strategy. The past few years have seen a wave of new talent arrive, as Ford replaced around two thirds of the senior leaders in its engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing teams. Around 300 engineers with decades of experience were hired into the Vehicle Engineering team to act as auditors, evaluating processes and tackling potential pain points through weekly design reviews.
Ford’s employees in the manufacturing team were a major area of focus too. The people who spend the most time on the shop floor have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas on how to improve the manufacturing process, and team leaders spend more time closer to the action in order to see where there is potential room for change. Standardized, shared data allows teams to observe trends in the quality of the vehicles produced, tackling any issues immediately.
…And Systems
2025 Ford Maverick Lariat badge logo detail shotFord
While people are at the heart of Ford’s strategy, upgrading systems and software was also an important part of how the brand has made major improvements on the quality front. The supply chain was streamlined, with risks identified and addressed to eliminate defects at the source. A series of “go see, find it, fix it” missions, where Ford’s teams visited the manufacturing plants of various suppliers in its network, were launched in order to make these improvements possible.
“It’s easy to celebrate heroes fixing problems […] What we really want is to celebrate zero defects.”
Liz Door, Ford chief supply chain officer
Ford also did major work in upgrading and future-proofing its software. The quality assurance process for vehicle software was rebuilt from scratch, reducing errors and improving reliability. Every line of code in Ford vehicles today has been stress-tested to its limits, going through countless simulated scenarios that mimic real-world conditions. This allows bugs to be eliminated early on in the development process, making the quality of the finished vehicle higher and the customer experience smoother.
Super Duty pickup trucks on the factory line.Ford
Although Ford is, understandably, in a celebratory mood, it is by no means resting on its laurels. The company is constantly looking to stay ahead of the curve, keeping a firm eye on the road ahead. In Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra’s words, “This is a milestone, not a finish line.”
Sources: Ford, JD Power
