Ford Motor Co. has accumulated an alarming number of recalls over the past few years, prompting the automaker to take drastic measures to improve its manufacturing quality. One of those efforts is the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) in quality control, but it appears to have backfired, as Ford is now rehiring hundreds of veteran engineers.
Ford’s vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, Charles Poon, told reporters that, “Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it’s only as good as the information you use to train it.” He went on to say that Ford didn’t give its experienced engineers as much credit as it should have. The automaker implemented 900 AI-assisted cameras to help identify quality issues, but they couldn’t replace the trained eye of an experienced technician.
Poon also noted that Ford released those engineers before their knowledge could be used to train the AI system. Interestingly, the rehired group will be tasked with training the AI system alongside new employees, so the new technologies will remain in place with human babysitters.
In 2026, Ford returned to the top of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) for the first time since 2010. The automaker said the achievement was “driven by software improvements,” noting that J.D. Power rated its infotainment quality 11 points better than the industry average. Ford also said its top quality ranking “required a significant talent refresh,” and announced the return of 300 veteran engineers. Their new role will be as internal auditors, which includes conducting weekly design review meetings to uncover quality issues before a product hits the factory lines.
While it ranked as the top auto brand in the 2026 IQS, some Ford models performed better than others. The F-150, Mustang, and F-Series Super Duty models ranked at the top of their segments, while the Escape, Explorer, Expedition, and Maverick were in the top three of their segments.
