American automakers have shown a strong resurgence in quality levels in the recent past and the trend appears to be continuing. Last year Buick tied with Lexus in a J.D. Power dependability study and before that Ford topped a study on initial quality. The Blue Oval has once again come out on top in an initial quality survey, this time equaling usual favorites Toyota and Honda.

The new report was based on an annual survey of thousands of new car buyers and was conducted by independent research firm RDA Group on behalf of Ford. The latest study looked at 2008 model cars and trucks from all full-line manufacturers with respondents in the survey asked to list the number of problems they had encountered during the first 90 days of ownership of their new cars, reports The Detroit News.

RDA has been conducting the annual survey for Ford for close to a decade, with preceding years showing a narrowing gap between American and foreign makes. The research group also conducts a number of studies for rival automakers and its findings have traditionally matched those of rival research firm J.D. Power and Associates.