Ford Australia should Pay a $10-million Penalty
Ford Australia has been adjudged guilty of improper actions related to repair and replacement operations of a defective gearbox, resulting in numerous complaints from customers. The judicial authorities of Australia placed the carmaker under the obligation to pay a $10 million penalty for an inappropriate investigation of complaints.
Customers who bought a Fiesta, Focus or EcoSport model, equipped with the DPS6 gearbox, became displeased with the vehicle performance. The DPS6 gearbox was developed thanks to the collaboration of Ford and Getrag. This gearbox was supposed to be a reliable solution, but Ford was bombarded with complaints about vibrations, delays, and unresponsive accelerations. Ford sold seventy-five thousand cars equipped with this problematic gearbox in Australia in the 2011-16 timeframe.
DPS6 / 6DCT250 PowerShift
During the court proceedings, it became known that Ford addressed grievances of customers with numerous violations. Ford employees often tried to assure drivers of cars equipped with a DPS6 that the issue was triggered by the driver’s aggressive driving. In many cases, the company denied the possibility of providing financial compensations or free-of-charge replacement vehicles.
Ford agreed with the court verdict and apologized to affected customers. In addition to the financial penalty, the company has to consider all complaints related to the abovementioned issue and provide compensations in cases with proven violations of customers’ rights. This process will start in summer of 2018 and will last for 1 year.
ABOUT DPS6 / 6DCT250 PowerShift
DPS6 / 6DCT250 PowerShift is the 6-speed
automatic gearbox with a double dry clutch and electronic control. The gearbox
consists of two planetary gear sets, each of which is connected to the flywheel
by its own clutch. One important design feature of this gearbox is the
availability of two input shafts (one is positioned inside the other one). The
first (hollow) shaft is intended for even gears (2,4,6) and reverse gears. The
main (central) shaft actuates odd-numbered gears (1,3,5). Another peculiarity
of this transmission is the presence of two main gears. It is possible due to
the fact that each output shaft in this gearbox (there are 2 output shafts) has
a gear pinion.
Informative video
about the DPS6 / 6DCT250 PowerShift transmission
