Ford Thailand sued by customers over transmission issues

MANILA: Ford had been a part of a major controversy revolving around issues related to its Powershift transmission in Australia. Although Ford managed to settle the dispute in the land of Kangaroos with a fine of AUD 10 million, it got into trouble in Thailand.

Ford Thailand had been sued by a total of 421 customers over the same issue regarding the Powershift transmission. All this began back in April 2017, when Thai courts accepted a class-action lawsuit against Ford Thailand. It is a similar case that we have seen in Australia.

The culprit here is Ford’s six-speed, dual-clutch transmission (DPS6). It has been creating certain issues in a few Ford cars - Fiesta, Focus, and EcoSport - which even the authorized service centres could not able to resolve. Tired of being harassed by the problems and officials, owners of the affected Ford vehicles took legal action against Ford Thailand and its subsidiaries, accusing the American brand of 'selling unsafe products due to substandard production and distribution, and of false advertising'.

During the initial phase of this fiasco, cases were filed against Ford Motor Company Thailand Co Ltd, the company's sales and service division, and the operations of the automaker. However, later the plaintiffs dropped the charges against Ford Thailand, its sales department and operations department, leaving only the company’s service division left out in the battlefield.

Out of the 421 customers who stepped into the fight, 113 agreed to a settlement offered by Ford Thailand. The remaining 308 decided to take their stands and continue this fight which has caused Ford Thailand to face a Php 39 million lawsuit. The next hearing of this case is scheduled by the Thai courts to be held on 28 Sept 2018.