Past quality issues haunt Ford's bottom line

While Ford's J.D. Power rankings stay relatively flat, its warranty costs are inching higher and higher all the time as stock dips lower and lower.

Plagued by problems with its 2004 models, Ford Motor Company has claimed $500 million in quality-related losses, which heavily contributed to the $284 million third quarter net loss Ford reported last week. Without the $240 million settlement from Bridgestone, we'd be looking at a much higher number, of course. Company execs stress that Ford has turned the quarter on quality and that we won't be seeing the quality issues we saw in 2000.