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Ford, Mercury, Lincoln and Jaguar Get High Marks from Customers

16 July 1998

Ford, Mercury, Lincoln and Jaguar Get High Marks from Customers In J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index

    DETROIT, July 15 -- Results of J.D. Power and Associates'
Customer Satisfaction Index study, announced today, show that Ford, Mercury,
Lincoln and Jaguar all achieved higher scores and higher rankings than a year
ago.
   Jaguar improved to fourth place from its fifth place finish last year.
Mercury made the top five for the first time in the history of the index,
leaping from thirteen in last year's study to fifth this year.  Ford and
Lincoln also enjoyed improvements, with Ford cars and trucks combined
achieving a 9 point improvement over the 1997 CSI score and Lincoln cars
improving by 4 points (Lincoln Navigator was not included in the study, which
is based on vehicles 12-14 months in service).
    For the second consecutive year, Ford Motor Company is the only
U.S.-based manufacturer to have all of its automotive brands exceed the
industry average.
    This year's Customer Satisfaction Index results for Ford Motor Company's
automotive brands are reflective of improvements the company has achieved in
customer satisfaction in other recent J.D. Power and Associates studies.
    Ford Motor Company tied for first place as the manufacturer with the most
Best In Segment vehicles in this year's J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, and
Ford's St. Thomas, Chicago and Michigan Truck assembly plants swept the top
three spots among plants manufacturing vehicles for sale in the U.S. market,
an unprecedented achievement.
    In recognition of customer evaluations of Ford vehicles in various J.D.
Power and Associates nationwide studies, earlier this year Ford Motor Company
and the United Auto Workers received the first Chairman's Award Presented by
J.D. Power III to officially recognize both labor and management's cooperative
efforts.