Dearborn, Michigan – Ford Motor Company has surpassed Honda and has statistically tied with Toyota in initial vehicle quality, according to the 2009 U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS). The survey is conducted quarterly for Ford by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

“This is truly a significant accomplishment for us,” said Bennie Fowler, Ford group vice president of global quality. “Honda and Toyota have claimed bragging rights for years, but now we are seeing our hard work pay off. It’s evident in study after study.”

The latest survey measured 2009 model year initial vehicle quality in the categories of the number of “things gone wrong,” and customer satisfaction in the first three months of ownership.

In the first quarter of 2009, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles dropped five per cent in things gone wrong to 1,228 per 1,000 vehicles, significantly better than Honda’s 1,422 per 1,000 vehicles, and statistically equal to Toyota’s 1,150.

The survey also showed that Ford’s brands improved two percentage points in customer satisfaction with quality, to 79 per cent, which puts its domestic brands in a tie with Toyota and Honda for industry leadership.

Leaders in their respective segments for initial quality and customer satisfaction were the Mustang, for sports cars; and in initial quality, the Taurus for large cars, Taurus X for crossover utilities, Mercury Milan for midsize cars, and Ford Ranger for compact pickups. The all-new 2009 F-150 recorded quality levels that equated to less than one problem per vehicle, as did the Taurus, Taurus X, Fusion, Milan and Edge.