Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Ford Fiesta

Not wanting to take second place to anyone, especially Toyota, Ford is vowing that its new line of Euro small cars, including the new Fiesta and next-gen Focus, will launch in the U.S. with the best quality in the industry. That's the official word from Bennie Fowler, Ford's VP of Global Quality. To accomplish this goal for the 2010 model year, Ford will send a handful of UAW workers to Wayne State University where they will become certified "Six Sigma Black Belts" (a.k.a. quality experts with the coolest certification ever) and take their learned expertise back to the assembly plants. The industry average right now is about 1,300 problems per 1,000 vehicles. Ford is promising that its new line of small cars from Europe will have just 800 things gone wrong per 1,000 vehicles. It is a target that bests their Japanese rival, but it still leaves us wondering why they wouldn't just aim for zero problems?

Gallery: 2009 Ford Fiesta

Ford talks tough on quality, promises best-built small cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.