I am a Ford fanatic; have been all my life. But I will not make excuses where they clearly are failing; even the Ford CEO has publically admitted they are doing a horrible job. They are, sadly, not alone; Ford is just the worst, at least currently.
I worked in manufacturing for much of my adult career; 16 years at Ford in fact. I believe this decline in quality is a two-fold issue:
- Designs are rushed to market too quickly because of the "must keep up with the Jones's" mentality. As soon as any new tech or feature hits the market, every manufacturer races to copy or out-do that recent release. Some of this is due to the constant onslaught of YT reviews where dozens of people either praise or pan a brand or feature and the public sees this shiny new thing and goes ga-ga over it. The other part of this problem comes from changing gov mandates that make it almost impossible to foresee a problem as the tech is necessary to keep up with the mandates. As one example, GDI was the savior of all, until they realized that carbon build-up on the intake valves is a real thing, and now they have to combine it with PFI, which still does not stop the problem, but pushes it far enough down the road that the original owner is unlikely to have to deal with it, or OEM pay for valve cleaning under warranty.
So, design implementation rates are causing quality to suffer because they are not always well researched and tested prior to release.
- Labor issues, specifically since CVD19 ... Labor turnover is always a problem in manufacturing, but since 2019 it's now an even bigger issue. How big? Well, before CVD19 (prior to 2019) the daily absenteeism in the Indianapolis manufacturing market was around 25%. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT of the daily workforce didn't show up to work. After 2019, that went up even higher !!!!!!!! It is VERY DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE to "make" stuff (produce things on an assembly line or run complex machines) when more than one-quarter of your people done't come to work on any given day. This means the folks who DO show up, often end up on jobs they've never done before, or are marginally familiar with at best. Management will literally move the workforce around the plant to hit the most important daily product draws for shipment. People are moved constantly from job to job. Some people do care, and try their best. Others get ticked-off and just "phone in" their efforts, often ignoring defects generated by themselves and others while "making" the products. Daily labor absenteeism is a MAJOR problem and has been for over a decade now. Unless you've worked in this type environment, it's difficult to conceive how bad it is, and the effects it causes.
So, customer demand rates are rising while manpower supply is dwindling, causing people to be over-taxed and also unfamiliar with the jobs of producing goods.
I am currently considering buying a new luxury car, and Lincoln is not on my short list simply because I don't believe my $60k will be well spent at Lincoln for the very reason of poor quality. In fact, though I do believe that Lexus and Acura are likely better quality choices in the luxury market I'm considering, even they have the same challenges currently (though they may be "better" at dealing with the issues). And so, I am also strongly considering buying a used luxury car from the "pre-CVD" time (prior to early 2019).
