Ford says extra truck inspections are costly, Cheaper debuts is a goal

NEW YORK -October 25, 2002- Bloomberg News reported that Ford Motor Co. wants to avoid extra inspections of new F-Series pickup trucks when production starts next year, as the automaker tries to reduce the costs of vehicle introductions, their chief executive officer said.

This year, the world's second-largest automaker added some inspections when production of 2003 Expedition and Navigator sport-utilities began. The vehicles were held and checked before they were sent to dealers. The movecame after problems occurred with other models during production starts.

"This year it was absolutely the right decision" for the Expedition and Navigator, CEO William Clay Ford Jr. said in New York on Thursday. "It is costly. We felt it was important to get the quality right." With the top-selling F-Series, "we're not counting on doing it that way."

Ford struggled with early recalls of the redesigned 2002 Explorer midsize sport-utility and the new Escape small sport-utility in 2000, and with delays on the new Thunderbird last year. It blamed quality problems in part for declining sales and a $5.45 billion loss last year.

The automaker rose from seventh to fifth this year in a J.D. Power & Associates survey of the complaints car buyers have in the first 90 days of ownership.

Through September, U.S. sales of F-Series trucks fell 4.3 percent from a year earlier, to 620,197, according to Autodata Corp. The trucks face competition from new full-size pickups made by General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.

The company's shares fell 31 cents to $8.86 on the New York Stock Exchange.