Mad1
06-20-2003, 11:15 AM
This story moved on the new wire today. I thought everyone here would get a kick out of it. A little late for some Marauder owners ... to judge by some of the complaints on this board.
Mad1
<b>Ford to Use Extra Inspections on All New Models, Scheele Says</b>
(Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co., the world’s second- largest automaker, will conduct extra inspections on all its new car and truck models to improve quality, Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Scheele said.
“This is how we plan all of our future launches,” Scheele told reporters yesterday during test drives of the new F-150 pickup truck near San Antonio.
Ford used the extra inspections, a process called “batch and hold,” last year when it began producing new versions of the Expedition and Navigator sport-utility vehicles. The automaker continued the inspections with the new F-150, which began production last week at a Norfolk, Va., plant. The extra inspections take place after vehicles are assembled.
The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker wants to prevent the kinds of early recalls it had with the redesigned 2002 Explorer midsize sport-utility and the new Escape small sport-utility in 2000. Ford’s scores in J.D. Power & Associates annual initial- quality survey have gotten better in the past two years, which the automaker has cited as an indicator of improvement.
“It’s a quality validation,” Scheele said of the extra inspections. The additional cost “is infinitesimal,” he said. “The cost of not doing it is of greater concern.”
Group Vice President Roman Krygier in an April interview said checking each F-150 before it goes to dealers probably will take about half the time needed for the Expedition and Navigator last year. He wouldn’t say how long the inspections take.
The F-150 accounts for about 60 percent of sales of F-Series pickups, the top-selling line of vehicles in the U.S. In addition to the Norfolk plant, a factory near Kansas City, Missouri, starts producing the new F-150 model in July and a new plant in Dearborn, Michigan will assemble the model next year.
The 2002 Explorer was recalled twice after the start of production. About 55,600 had to be fixed in April 2001 because brackets holding the rear liftgate could loosen, allowing the window to shatter. The company also recalled 52,729 2002 Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport-utilities in May 2001 to replace tires damaged during assembly.
Ford shares rose 24 cents to $11.52 at 9:49 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have gained 24 percent this year.
Mad1
<b>Ford to Use Extra Inspections on All New Models, Scheele Says</b>
(Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co., the world’s second- largest automaker, will conduct extra inspections on all its new car and truck models to improve quality, Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Scheele said.
“This is how we plan all of our future launches,” Scheele told reporters yesterday during test drives of the new F-150 pickup truck near San Antonio.
Ford used the extra inspections, a process called “batch and hold,” last year when it began producing new versions of the Expedition and Navigator sport-utility vehicles. The automaker continued the inspections with the new F-150, which began production last week at a Norfolk, Va., plant. The extra inspections take place after vehicles are assembled.
The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker wants to prevent the kinds of early recalls it had with the redesigned 2002 Explorer midsize sport-utility and the new Escape small sport-utility in 2000. Ford’s scores in J.D. Power & Associates annual initial- quality survey have gotten better in the past two years, which the automaker has cited as an indicator of improvement.
“It’s a quality validation,” Scheele said of the extra inspections. The additional cost “is infinitesimal,” he said. “The cost of not doing it is of greater concern.”
Group Vice President Roman Krygier in an April interview said checking each F-150 before it goes to dealers probably will take about half the time needed for the Expedition and Navigator last year. He wouldn’t say how long the inspections take.
The F-150 accounts for about 60 percent of sales of F-Series pickups, the top-selling line of vehicles in the U.S. In addition to the Norfolk plant, a factory near Kansas City, Missouri, starts producing the new F-150 model in July and a new plant in Dearborn, Michigan will assemble the model next year.
The 2002 Explorer was recalled twice after the start of production. About 55,600 had to be fixed in April 2001 because brackets holding the rear liftgate could loosen, allowing the window to shatter. The company also recalled 52,729 2002 Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport-utilities in May 2001 to replace tires damaged during assembly.
Ford shares rose 24 cents to $11.52 at 9:49 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have gained 24 percent this year.