Ford will pay up to $100 million to settle the transmission lawsuit

MANILA: Ford's DPS6 PowerShift dual-clutch transmission has troubled the blue oval automaker quite a lot lately. But, it was Ford to shoot itself in the foot by selling the defective DPS6 or 6DCT250 transmission to the customers. The automaker first tried to put the blame on the customers citing that the owners had created the problems themselves.

The automaker, however, could not hide the truth for long as it was eventually found out from the internal documents and e-mails that Ford knew it all along about the defective transmission. Irrespective of being a faulty product, the transmission was still manufactured and fitted on the Ford cars, which were then delivered to the customers.

According to the lawsuit filings, the third-gen C346 Focus that was built from 2012-16 and 2011-16 produced B299 Fiesta models carried the defective transmissions. Moreover, customers claimed that the defective gearboxes lead the car owners to experience "shuddering, slipping, bucking, jerking, hesitation while changing gears, premature internal wear, delays in downshifting and, in some cases, sudden or delayed acceleration".

Following the findings, the Focus and Fiesta units that were manufactured before mid-2013 saw their transmission warranties to be extended to seven years and 160,000 km by Ford. Soon enough, the American automaker also extended the warranties on the 2014-16 Focus and 2014-15 Fiesta.

Besides, Ford has also been trying to repair the defective transmissions extensively. While the former owners and lessees will receive compensation, current owners can avail the buyback program by Ford. Also, the customers who faced numerous failed transmission repairs during the first five years or 96,000 km will receive cash reimbursement. Ford will be shelling out $30 million for the process.

As per the previous agreement, Ford was supposed to pay around $35 million, but since that did not come to fruition, the final decision will now come out on the 28th of February 2020. From October 2017 till the end of 2019, Ford claims to have spent around $47.47 million in buying back 2,666 defective Focus and Fiesta units. And now, the payout might cross the $100 million mark, and Ford will have to keep paying the customer until there comes an end to the filing of claims.

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