April 7 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 U.S. automaker, says a company-commissioned study found its quality now matches that of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. and plans to use the results in a new advertising campaign.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands improved 8 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, to 1,284 ``things gone wrong'' per 1,000 vehicles in the first three months of ownership, Ford Motor said in a statement.

The results were ``statistically equivalent'' to Toyota and Honda, which both scored 1,250, the company said. The study was performed for Ford by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. RDA surveys owners of ``all major makes and models,'' Ford said.

``We're tied with Honda and Toyota for best in the business,'' Mark Fields, Ford's top executive for North America, said in an interview. ``We now have the goods to back up the message.''

Ford's new ``Drive One'' campaign, which starts tomorrow, emphasizes quality. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally and marketing chief Jim Farley have said Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford needs to burnish its image with consumers.

The marketing effort follows a 9 percent sales slump in the first quarter, when industrywide volume dropped 8 percent. Ford's U.S. market share shrank to 15.2 percent from 15.4 percent a year earlier.

GM, Chrysler Scores

General Motors Corp.'s ``things gone wrong'' score in the survey was 1,367 per 1,000 vehicles, while Chrysler LLC's was 1,744, Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said in an e-mail.

Ford has been trying to boost quality since 2002. The automaker has bettered its scores in J.D. Power & Associates' initial-quality survey, which also measures customer satisfaction in the first three months of ownership.

Ford had four of the top 10 brands in J.D. Power's 2007 survey, which rates cars and light trucks on ``things gone wrong'' per 100 vehicles. Porsche SE, maker of the 911 sports car, held the top spot, with Toyota's Lexus brand second.

Ford has increased the use of computers during vehicle design, to eliminate flaws ``before the first real-world prototype,'' Fields said.

The automaker said its ads will appear first during ``American Idol'' on News Corp.'s Fox television network.

Ford has lost U.S. market share every year since 1995, when it accounted for more than one-in-four cars and light trucks sold in the U.S.

GM and Toyota are the world's biggest automakers by vehicle sales. Ford, third-biggest globally, gained 24 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $6.73 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Koenig in Commerce, Michigan, at wkoenig@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 7, 2008 16:09 EDT