Ford at risk of $200m ‘lemon’ payout in Australia

Aussie Ford owners could be entitled to big payouts after years of legal battles over ‘lemon’ cars. See if your model qualifies.

Thousands of Aussies who purchased Ford vehicles with faulty PowerShift transmissions could be entitled to tens of thousands of dollars in compensation, following a landmark ruling in the Federal Court.

The judgement is part of a decade-long class against Ford motor Company of Australia, with lead plaintiff Biljana Capic awarded just over $22,000 in damages after Justice Nye Perram found her 2012 Ford Focus to be defective.

“As many judges have remarked in the course of this litigation, her Ford Focus is a lemon,” Justice Perram wrote in his 69-page judgment, handed down on June 20.

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Billie Capic is the lead applicant in this big new class action against Ford, covering 70,000 cars. She was frightened for her life when her Focus lost power in February this year. It's done it several times. Picture: Paul Loughnan

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While the court has so far only awarded damages to the lead plaintiff, Biljana Capic, further hearings are scheduled to determine whether other group members will also be entitled to compensation.

The payout is forecast to exceed $200 million to current and former owners of Ford Fiesta, Focus and EcoSport models fitted with the PowerShift transmission and sold between 1 January 2011 and 20 December 2024.

Justice Perram said Ms Capic’s vehicles, and others like it, were not of acceptable quality under Australian Consumer Law.

“It is clear in the case of Ms Capic’s vehicle that the many risks to which it was prone became manifest,” he said.

“Consequently, she presented the vehicle for servicing on 15 occasions between 14 April 2013 and 11 June 2019. Many of these were pointless since Ford had not solved the underlying problems.”

Despite years of court battles and appeals, Ford failed to overturn the original 2021 ruling that the cars were defective.

Last year, the High Court referred the case back to the Federal Court for a reassessment of damages.

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Ford Ecosport Ambiente 1.5 three-cylinder petrol (October 2018). Picture: Supplied

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Ford has previously argued that the issues were minimal and at times, blamed drivers - particularly women.

Class action spokesperson and CEO of Handle My Complaint Jo Ucukalo said this is a turning point for Aussies who had been let down by Ford.

“These are people who bought a Focus, Fiesta or EcoSport in good faith, found their car to be defective, and then were rebuffed or ignored by Ford when they sought to have the problems fixed,” she said.

Ucukalo said the vehicles should “never have been sold in the first place”.

“The problem was fundamentally defective design,” she said.

Class action spokesperson and CEO of Handle My Complaint Jo Ucukalo said this is a turning point for Aussies who had been let down by Ford. Picture: Supplied

Ucukalo added that Ford repeatedly tried to delay or derail the legal process.

“It is all the more sweet for car owners given that Ford used every trick in the book to delay, stymie or block fair compensation during the Court process,” she said.

Ucukalo is urging all affected vehicle owners to come forward and register via the Ford Class action website.

A Ford Spokesperson told News Corp Australia it was still reviewing the court’s judgement “to understand its full effect,” and encouraged any concerned customers to contact them directly.

“As always, we encourage any customers with concerns about a vehicle they own to contact us on 13FORD,” a spokesperson said.

“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 so that our customers get back on the road quickly.”

The Federal Court is expected to hold further hearings later this year to determine the damages payable across different categories of owners.

Originally published as Ford at risk of $200m ‘lemon’ payout in Australia