Finally, some good news for Ford

Alas, it appears that the news is not unrelentingly bleak for at least one of the Big Three automakers. Ford announced that they have made dramatic reductions in the amount they are spending on warranty work, which is both an important cost savings during difficult times and an indicator that the quality of their production has improved. AutoBlog reports:

There are several metrics to determine if a manufacturer is producing high-quality vehicles. J.D. Power surveys and Consumer Reports are useful consumer tools, but one statistic tells the automakers how well they’re doing perhaps more than any other: warranty costs. At the turn of the 21st century, Ford was dumping billions of dollars into warranty vehicle repair, but the Blue Oval says that recent quality gains has cut warranty costs by $1.2 billion over the past two years. In fact, since 2004, warranty repair work has been reduced by 50%. Amazingly, the warranty cost reductions come as Ford has increased warranty coverage from 3 years and 36,000 miles to 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The fact that they have reduced their warranty costs while simultaneously extending their warranty coverage by 40% speaks volumes about the quality of the cars they are producing. It’s not a surprise, then, that Ford is the only one of the Big Three automakers not to require government funding to avoid bankruptcy at the moment.