Ford Lost Another Powershift Transmission Lawsuit
Currently, Ford is facing several legal actions
related to the Powershift (DPS6) transmission issues.
This ill-reputed
transmission found application in Fiesta and Focus models. According to the
case documents, the automaker deliberately put on the market two
budget-friendly models equipped with the failure-prone transmission. Ford, in
turn, rejects such accusations officially, but recently ex-employees taking
part in the development of the Powershift unit have entered into the picture
and claimed that many Ford workers actually knew about numerous drawbacks in
the transmission design.
In the latest Powershift-related judicial case,
a couple, who pulled out of the class-action lawsuit, filed a lawsuit against
Ford in connection with the problematic gearbox installed in their 2014 Focus
car. The complainant party specified that the Powershift was quite unreliable
on the road, and they eventually decided to stop using the car. The verdict on
this case has been recently made public.
By a court order, Ford will have to pay to the
affected party $23,000. The evidence submitted certainly proved that the
automaker knew about the problem and tried to hush up the unfolding scandal,
disregarding numerous complaints accumulating from all across the US.
The case materials also included internal Ford
materials that showed that the gear shifting unit was the source of a half of
all tech problem cases for Ford, despite the fact that this component was
installed in cars amounting to a quarter of its sales amount. Vehicles equipped
with this disastrous transmission frequently become the main reason for visits
to the repair shop.
The judge who presided over this case is also working on numerous similar cases, where arguments Ford also seem quite unconvincing. Ford continues to stand its ground, and the company’s representative stated before the court that the Powershift malfunctions cannot become a reason for life-threatening situations on the road.