Ford tops Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey

Mondeo

Ford topped the Reader’s Digest European Trusted Brands survey in the car brand category, which covers 15 countries and assesses over 24,000 replies. Considering the general demographics of Reader’s Digest subscribers, this could mean Ford is the UK’s most trusted car brand.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • Capt Shopalot (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 10:53 am

    Has always like Ford

    Just that too much friend-said about second hand value really put you off

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  • marmitecrab (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 2:47 pm

    A couple of Ford jokes:

    FORD – Fix Or Repair Daily, Found On Road Dead

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  • NiceCar (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 3:28 pm

    FORD is good car company; this car may be the New Mondeo (concept car Iosis) is look good and previously appear in the latest James Bond (casino loyal) movie..

    Actually the second hand price also refer to market since Malaysian more prefer the BMW and Merz.. Demand high then price also high.

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  • J (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 3:38 pm

    Sometimes we wonder how true a survey result is ? :)

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  • flrsjl (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 3:52 pm

    I think ppl tend to have favoritism to marques, what if that was Toyota instead of Ford? Many ppl will say yes, that's true….

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  • BrakeFader (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 4:29 pm

    Ford has been very strong in the UK. Transit is one of their popular reliable vans and Mondeo if not mistaken sold nearly as much as BMW 3 series.

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  • hondadriver (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 4:39 pm

    if it were any other survey, yes, you could probably say its questionable.

    but to me, readers digest is a whole different ballgame. i believe they have lots of credibility.

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  • 4G63T DSM (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 5:02 pm

    Ford builds great cars. Just dont know why they dont do so well here.

    Besides, the Fords of old we have here are usually rebadged Mazdas (Telstar = 626, Laser = 323….). We dont get the real "Fords".

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  • xsaraloeb (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 5:28 pm

    I used to drive a Mondeo back in 90s when I was a student in UK. Rental car la. It was a very stable and safe car as equal to any 3 series. Unfortunately the name didn't live to its international reputation in Malaysia. I guess we have been fed too much of how a Jap car reliability even the Vios came out an add saying….have u ever seen a Toyota breakdown ? They actually pulled back the add when a lot of Toyotas got stuck on sidelined of highways during festive holidays…heard due to the injection issues.

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  • .drive (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 5:51 pm

    as good as a mondeo is, i think the image it portrays is… not very exciting. i like it very much. but which would you choose, 3-series or a something that's called a Mondeo?

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  • Charger (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    Because the market surveys said, Japanese cars sell better here due to our 3rd world mentality mindset and people too concern about the car's 2nd hand value even before buying it, likewise to the 3rd hand value of a 2nd hand car they are about to buy.

    They want low low 2nd hand value when buying, but want to have high high 3rd hand value. What kind of thinking is this? Is this dreamland or they have 1 dreamland mattress at home at their disposal?

    WAKE UP!

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  • aesthari (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 6:40 pm

    Ford builds great cars! Heck, even the Ford Transit van handles like a car! My family's been using one for 9 years, no major problems til this day, that's reliability! Go Ford!

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  • danielooi (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 8:29 pm

    I know a ford focus owner. Lousy fuel consumption…12.7l/100km and he had this nagging problem with "Engine Systems Fault".

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  • Hikaru (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 8:47 pm

    I think this is well and true as the first generation focus has been one of the best selling cars in UK. This is so because it afford reliability, affordability and good dynamics to the masses. In fact, it would be the choice of car here if it weren't for the pesky NAP and APs. It's big spacious and safe. Focus RS is also a bit of an icon when it is released and the English are waiting for the new RS to appear…..

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  • tokmoh (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 9:10 pm

    Strangely, RD Msia said in Msia, here's the rank: Honda, Proton, Toyota. Just how the fug did proton got there? bribery? For every single year, Proton will always be there, n I just dun get it.

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  • marmitecrab (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 9:29 pm

    tokmoh,

    Proton is there simply because a lot of people own one. It's simple statistics, really. When RD does a survey, guess who are the ones who will respond? Certainly not the owners of BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, etc. Even owners of brands like Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc who drive the higher-end models may not participate in the survey.

    What does this mean? Simple, RD is not an authority as their survey may not be complete in its findings. It's merely done to appeal to their readers and show their advertisers some new gimmicks. So should we be impressed by the results? I don't think so.

    If the survey was done by a recognised authority on the automotive industry, then I would be more than likely to believe it.

    But I liked your second sentence. Very funny.

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  • slippers (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 9:49 pm

    You realise that Reader's Digest are only read by bored dorks who drive fords.

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  • kei9 (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 10:16 pm

    dont say that slippers! cruel!

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  • hondadriver (Member) on May 04, 2007 at 11:40 pm

    but marmitecrab, what you have said can also be interpreted the other way round. Does statistics also show that drivers of BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, etc. Even owners of brands like Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc do not take part in the RD survey? What about the statistics of what car RD readers who participated own?

    There are so many questions, but no answers really. So what statistics do you have of RD readers that let you come to the conclusion that you did?

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  • tokmoh (Member) on May 05, 2007 at 12:58 am

    Thnx marmitecrab. It always puzzled me how different RD's survey compared to others. I'm +ve any given survey will say Perodua is definitely pwning Proton like nuts (kacang). I mean obviously, ask any bloke on the streets n they'll let u noe which would they prefer. Proton, even if it improves, will still become the target of anyone, save for the gamens n ppl "associated" with it. All else would just want to bash it till the cows go back.

    @slippers

    Mayb yes, bt u noe, Ford UK's Chairman n MD is a "Top" bloke. Even Top Gear journalists like him. Just read this blog here: http://www.topgear.com/blogs/planettopgear/037-wa…

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  • mystvearn (Member) on May 05, 2007 at 4:37 am

    All of the surveys are buying Focus and Mondeo's?

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  • kei9 (Member) on May 05, 2007 at 5:46 am

    donno…..maybe even ranger too.

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  • marmitecrab (Member) on May 07, 2007 at 5:20 am

    hondadriver,

    Good point. I shouldn't have made it sound like an absolute conclusion. I was merely making assumptions and I'm sure there were plenty of owners of different makes who took part in the survey.

    The point I'm trying to make is that RD readers surveys are not authoritative in nature. Hence, it may not be a requirement to have owners of all/most brands participate in it to make it a credible survey.

    An example of how inaccurate their results are, statistically speaking can be found here: http://star-motoring.com/news/story.asp?file=/200…

    It says that Toyota's Total Industry Volume (TIV) is 16.5%, Honda's 5.4% and Nissan's 4.7%.

    And it was also reported in here: http://paultan.org/archives/2006/05/23/perodua-ov…
    that Perodua's market share is 44% and Proton has 30.35% market share.

    Though not conclusive and may not be the most accurate statistics, what I'm saying is that the survey listed Honda as the most trusted brand although in terms of industry volume, they sold 3 times less than Toyota. This could mean that Toyota owners don't trust their brand enough or not many Toyota owners were polled. Or it could also mean that more Honda owners really love their brand.

    But the weird part remains that Proton is right up there at number 2. Ahead of Toyota. Doesn't that tell you something about the results? Statistics aside, can you honestly say that Proton is the second most trusted brand in Malaysia? I had a few Protons and I can tell you they sucked. I have a Perodua running for 5 years now and there has not been one major fault with it. The power windows still work, the weather seals still do their job, the engine and transmission are faultless, etc.

    I also have a Hyundai and although it has some minor problems, they're still nothing compared to what my Protons did. This is my take on the survey (again, I'm assuming and is not conclusive in any way). A lot of people were polled. And a lot of them were owners of Protons. A majority of Honda owners replied in the positive and so did many of the Toyota owners. However, there were many Proton owners who were dissatisfied with their brand and replied in the negative. But there were also some who replied in the positive (possibly new owners). And these positive replies were so big in numbers, they outshone Toyota and secured the number 2 spot.

    How did I come to this conclusion?

    1. RD did not state what system of polling they used

    2. They did not state the size of the participants

    3. They also did not state what kind of scoring system they used

    4. RD is not a credible source ( remember their survey on Malaysian courtesy?)

    Feel free to criticise my posting. The truth of the matter, I and possibly many others, couldn't give two hoots about where Proton stands because I and possibly many others, know that Proton makes crappy products and they are not interested in long term business.

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  • shaif (Member) on May 07, 2007 at 6:27 pm

    Well I'm one of the Proton owner and after 5 years own it, never once the power window fail and it works whenever I need to pay a toll. So I can't say my power window or proton is crap since I also saw other car (not proton) open their car door's to pay the toll.

    It just show that car with good maintenance perform better no matter what brand it is. Except of course this rule not viable for rich man who like to buy new car instead of perform maintenance or repairing his car.

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