Ford Motor Co.'s three domestic brands all received above-average marks in J.D. Power and Associates' influential annual survey of vehicle dependability, but several General Motors Corp. brands slipped in the rankings and all Chrysler LLC brands remained well below the industry average, led by a steep decline for Jeep.

Toyota Motor Corp. continued to dominate the top of the chart, with its luxury Lexus brand holding on to first place with 120 problems reported per 100 vehicles. Ford's Mercury brand -- which posted a 10 percent improvement over last year -- came in second, with 151 problems. Its Lincoln brand was eighth in the survey, while the Blue Oval itself came in at 14th.

All of Ford's domestic brands scored better than the industry as whole -- the first time a domestic automaker has done so in recent memory, said David Sargent, vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power. He said the industry as a whole improved by 5 percent year-over-year, with the average number of problems dropping to 206 per 100 vehicles from 216 last year.

The survey looks at vehicles that have been on the road for three years. This year's results were based on feedback from 52,000 original owners of 2005 model-year vehicles.

Ford's quality chief, Bennie Fowler, said the numbers prove that the gains Ford has made in initial quality over the past few years -- which have been reflected in J.D. Powers' initial quality surveys and studies by other groups such as Consumer Reports -- are real and sustained.

"Some of our competitors were saying initial quality doesn't matter," Fowler said. "Hopefully this will silence the whispers. We're on par with the best in the world, and the data is there to prove it."

Ford also claimed top honors in three vehicle segments with the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Monterey and Ford Ranger. Japan's Mazda Motor Corp., which Ford controls, won the sporty compact segment with its Miata. The Monterey has since been discontinued. Ford claimed one segment top honor last year.

Toyota and Honda Motor Co. still did better than Ford overall, but Sargent said the Dearborn automaker has narrowed the gap to the point that quality is no longer a real differentiator between Ford and its Japanese rivals.

"They're close to the point where the reality of quality is becoming a non-issue," he said. "The challenge that they face -- and that, frankly, all of the domestics face -- is the image of their quality is still lagging reality."

GM saw its overall quality ratings slip in this year's survey.

Buick, which shared the top spot with Lexus in last year's survey, dropped to sixth place this year, while Cadillac held on to its third-place slot. However, Chevrolet dropped from 21st to 27th and Pontiac fell from 17th to 20th.

GM claimed top honors in two segments, down from three last year. Both were for midsize vehicles it no longer manufacturers: the Chevy Monte Carlo and Buick Century.

Sargent said GM was hurt by the large number of launches it had in 2005, a point also made by the company.

"Around the 2005 timeframe, we were in a sort of product renaissance," said GM spokeswoman Janine Fruehan, who noted that the company's warranty costs are down 13 percent compared to last year.

"That is a strong and positive indicator that we are moving the needle significantly on quality in terms of initial and long-term quality."

Chrysler could offer no such excuses.

All of its brands continued to lag behind the industry as a whole. While the Chrysler brand climbed to 24th from 29th, Jeep plunged to 32nd from 16th. Chrysler spokeswoman Mary Beth Halprin said the results do not reflect the changes the company has made to improve quality in recent years.

"In the last year, significant changes have been made in the way the new Chrysler works on improving quality and customer satisfaction," she said. "Those changes have already had a significant impact. The cars we are selling today are greatly improved."

However, Sargent said Chrysler continues to score poorly in J.D. Power's new car quality survey, too.

He said one company that really has improved its quality is Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. Once the brunt of quality jokes, it rocketed from 22nd in 2007 to 13th in this year's survey. It also beat the industry average. Sargent said Hyundai has also posted impressive gains in recent surveys of initial quality.