Ford Vietnam races towards customer satisfaction

Ford ensures its vehicles can perform in all conditions

On par with Ford Global’s latest quality standards, the track’s design and technical specifications align with the criteria set out by the Vietnamese government in Decree No.116/2017/ND-CP regulating conditions for the manufacture, assembly, importation, and trading of auto warranty and maintenance services.

“All the car lines being manufactured and assembled at our Hai Duong factory need to undergo strict quality inspection on world-class test tracks to ensure they meet set technical requirements,” said Pham Van Dung, managing director of Ford Vietnam.

The test track is over 1,000 metres long

The new track is situated at Ford’s Hai Duong factory

In light of Ford studies, besides the durability of transmission systems, smart functions and security, minimising squeaks and rattles emanating from the operation process are some of the top factors customers take into account in terms of their satisfaction of the product. With the roll-out of the new track, aside with assuring performance and safety functions, technicians may be able to detect and address sounds made when the vehicles are actually run on stretches of road.

The new track, lying within the premises of Ford’s Hai Duong factory, is around 1,080 metres long and features a variety of simulated terrain conditions such as flat, washboard, wavy, hilled, slip, and U-turn roads. The surface also varies highly, featuring paved, cobblestone, Belgium granite block, roped, and angle iron roads. Each stretch is tailored to serve specific targets and features different types of road surface to garner an inclusive assessment of the vehicles’ technical specifications. Smooth and sloping roads will be used to check speed acceleration and the braking system, while gravel will aid checks in terms of vehicle body shaking or buffer capacity.

The durability of welding on the car body and frame will be tested to the limit when they are run on corrugated surfaces on curved roads, which ensures the structural integrity and smooth operation of the vehicles when running on tough complex terrains. In addition, slippery roads prove ideal in testing security functions. Especially, criteria in terms of squeaks and rattles will be tested on rough terrains such as wavy-line, ropes, and angle iron.

The feedback from technicians after trial runs will be forwarded to design and assembly teams to ensure products reaching the hands of customers will have the best possible quality standards, and serve as a valued source of information for product development in the future.

“The launch of the new test track will help Ford Vietnam bring to customers products of constantly improved quality, leveraging the four pillars of Quality, Safe, Smart and Green,” said Dung. “This is also a testimony to our company’s commitment to invest and develop for a long-term in the Vietnamese market.”