[sxenimit]

Looks like Ford is all over the news this week. Not for good reason either.

Ford has agreed to pay a record $10 million fine for unconscionable conduct over the auto giant's handling of complaints about faulty gearboxes in more than 10,000 Australian cars.





Ford's $10 million penalty is the highest fine handed out to a car company in Australia. The affected cars shuddered, jerked or lost power but some drivers were told it was their driving style. About 10,500 drivers could be entitled to a refund or replacement vehicle. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal action against Ford last year after receiving complaints about Fiesta, Focus and EcoSport vehicles fitted with the "PowerShift" transmission.

The dual-clutch automatic gearbox was meant to improve fuel efficiency and provide smoother gear shifts when driving.

But thousands of drivers complained that their cars shuddered and jerked when accelerating, suddenly lost power or made a lot of noise.

"Despite knowing that shuddering was a symptom of the quality issues with the vehicles, Ford frequently told customers that shuddering was the result of the customer's driving style," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

Ford slugged with record $10m fine for unconscionable conduct over faulty gearboxes

[Jeroen]

Good, the only thing a 10million penalty is small change for Ford. This is not the sort of money that would be discussed at their board.

Never the less, the ruling is an important one as it casts serious doubts on how Ford handles these complaints. I mean how can anybody question my driving style in an automatic. The first service manager that does that is in for it!

Very, very poor form of Ford. But it will go the VW way. It wont make a blind bit of difference, they will hopefully amend their ways and still sell a lot of cars. I mean, I am a fine one to bithc, currently there are two Ford's sitting in our yard!

Jeroen

[alpha1]

When will we start seeing such actions in India by the public bodies?

Really sad to see that India still languishes in customer's interest protection simply because customers are not (and cannot be) united.

Great action by the Australians! This is what makes country be counted as a "developed nation".

[GTO]

Sigh, this DCT has been a royal pain for Ford. In the USA, the company has faced many recalls, lawsuits & complaints over the DCT. Even in India, its long-term reliability is suspect. I guess they're scaling back on the DCT in favour of more conventional ATs now. Torque-converters have improved so much that there really is no need for dual-clutch gearboxes; for the mass market cars, even CVTs have greatly evolved (rubber-band effect reduced).

[sxenimit]

Originally Posted by GTO

Sigh, this DCT has been a royal pain for Ford. In the USA, the company has faced many recalls, lawsuits & complaints over the DCT. Even in India, its long-term reliability is suspect. I guess they're scaling back on the DCT in favour of more conventional ATs now. Torque-converters have improved so much that there really is no need for dual-clutch gearboxes; for the mass market cars, even CVTs have greatly evolved (rubber-band effect reduced).

I wouldn't say that. DCT's not only provide better gearing experience, and are better for performance, but also provide better mileage. DSG is a prime example of it. Only problem is, it needs to be done right. Which Ford clearly isn't focusing on doing. Problem is, Ford is still focusing mainly on profits.

Their mindset is clearly making them loose money.

1. People who buy Mustangs and Focus RS will most likely buy manual.
2. Every other car we make are family cars, so provide with a sub-standard AT since they won't notice much

Trying to maximize their profit, rather than focusing on good ethics and engineering. It's a shame really. From being one of the best car manufacturer not 35-40 years ago, to well, just being a car manufacturer.