Ford finally tops the quality charts — and it didn't get there by accident

© A. Krivonosov

Ford has pulled off a rare achievement on quality: the brand has taken first place among mass-market brands in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Initial Quality Study. For the company, it is the first such result since 2010 and a sharp turnaround from 2023, when Ford ranked just 15th.

The IQS measures the problems owners run into in the first months after buying a new car. It is not a long-term, 10-year reliability ranking but a snapshot of early-life quality: build, electronics, infotainment, transmission, first glitches and irritating flaws. This is exactly where Ford improved by 41 problems per 100 vehicles in a single year — the biggest gain among mass-market brands.

The key models pulled their weight. The F-150, Mustang and F-Series Super Duty topped their segments for the second year in a row. The Escape, Explorer, Expedition and Maverick also made it into the top three in their classes. In the end, seven of the ten Ford models tested ranked among the leaders — and for a brand with such a broad lineup, that matters more than one flagship car taking a single win.

Ford attributes the jump not to cosmetic fixes but to a rebuild of its processes. In 2023, the company merged its engineering, manufacturing, supply and quality teams into a single industrial system, then stepped up early design reviews and hired around 300 senior engineering auditors. Suppliers are now brought in earlier, and software is put through hundreds of thousands of automated scenarios before it ever reaches a production car.

For buyers, the bottom line is simpler: modern cars no longer break or annoy you only through hardware. An infotainment bug, a frozen screen, a glitchy assistant or half-baked software can ruin ownership just as fast as a noisy gearbox. Ford openly says its biggest leap came in infotainment quality, and powertrain reliability has noticeably improved as well.

But IQS should not be confused with long-term reliability. First place at J.D. Power is a strong signal that new Fords are coming off the line cleaner and irritating their owners less early on. The real test comes later — through mileage, warranty claims, electronics repairs and residual values.

For Ford, this is more than just a nice award. If the quality holds, the F-150, Super Duty, Explorer and Maverick will be able to sell not only on Americans’ habit of buying the brand, but on an argument Ford had long been missing: a new car should not start its life with a trip to the service department.