Ford faces $200m-plus payout to Focus, Fiesta and EcoSport owners in PowerShift class action

When some women who’d bought a Ford raised concerns that their car was faulty, they were told the issue was their “driving style”. Now the car giant faces a nine-figure compensation bill.

Exclusive: Owners of more than 70,000 dud Fords are set to share in $200 million-plus of compensation after a crucial court ruling in a decade-long Australian class action.

The Federal Court decided lead plaintiff Billie Capic should receive about $22,000 for her defective Ford, paving the way for compensation of a potentially similar size for current and former owners of affected cars made between 2010 and 2016.

The case, which was filed more than nine years ago, covers anyone who bought a Ford Focus, Fiesta or EcoSport with a dodgy PowerShift dual-clutch transmission between the start of 2011 and last December.

In 2021, the Federal Court found that Ms Capic’s car and ones like it were not of acceptable quality as required by Australian consumer law.

The case went through multiple appeals before being returned to the Federal Court to assess the damages payable to Ms Capic.

Billie Capic and her dodgy Ford. Picture: Paul Loughnan

“As many judges have remarked in the course of this litigation, her Ford Focus is a lemon,” Justice Nye Perram said in his recent reasons for judgment.

Class action spokeswoman Jo Ucukalo said Ford had tried to use every trick imaginable to block fair compensation. She said this included telling women it was the way “you are driving the car”.

This claim raised the ire of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which brought proceedings of its own against Ford, leading to a $10m penalty in 2018.

Ms Ucukalo said “our focus now is to identify as many people as possible who bought the cars new in the period in question, along with the people who now own them, to ensure they too are compensated.”

The total payout is forecast to be more than $200m.

Class action spokeswoman Jo Ucukalo of Handle My Complaint.

Ms Ucukalo urged all current and former owners to come forward via the Ford class action website to see if they were eligible.

The Federal Court is expected to conduct hearings later this year on issues including the amount of damages payable for different categories of owners.

Sandy Casa of Melbourne joined the class action after three Ford dealerships and head office dismissed her attempts to get her elderly father John’s lemon Focus fixed.

Mr Casa said: “I didn’t know what I could do about it, which made me stressed and upset.”

Ms Casa said the dealerships tried to fob her off or advised her to sell the vehicle privately for whatever price she could get, “pretending they were doing me a favour because I’m a female.”

Ms Casa said the court outcome sent a message to car companies and their franchises “that they need to do the right thing.”

John Casa with his daughter Sandy and his dud Ford. Picture: Ian Currie

Another owner, Paul Ehmer of Brisbane, said his Ford “started to play up” soon after he purchased it. But he had difficulty getting Ford to take responsibility for the problems.

“I’d like to see somebody held accountable,” Mr Ehmer said.

Ms Capic told this masthead it was “a relief to finally have some closure” but that the “journey isn’t over”.

“There’s still important work to be done to ensure that tens of thousands of other Ford owners receive the compensation they deserve,” Ms Capic said.

A Ford spokesman noted a damages figure covering the whole class action had yet to be determined.

“We are reviewing the court’s judgment to understand its full effect,” the spokesman said.

He added: “For some time, we have been focused on improving the experience customers have with us and our dealers. This includes continuing to ensure we manage any vehicle issues in a swift and fair manner.”

Originally published as Ford faces $200m-plus payout to Focus, Fiesta and EcoSport owners in PowerShift class action