Ford sued by more than 7,000 car owners over Powershift gearbox defect

For cars, the gearbox always plays a very important role. This is the intermediate component, responsible for transmitting and controlling traction to the wheels.

So, it goes without saying that a bad transmission will make the entire car worthless. This is exactly the case with Ford, whose Powershift transmission has led to a massive lawsuit against over 7,000 Focus and Fiesta owners in the US.

According to the lawsuit filed in court, the Powershift gearboxes in these cars often experience vibration, slipping, jerking, delayed shifting, rapid wear, slow acceleration/deceleration, and even sudden acceleration in some cases. The cars with the defect are mainly Focus 2012-2016 generation, Fiesta (mostly sedans) 2011-2016 generation. In fact, many of the above defects have been reported by consumers in Vietnam, especially in some car user communities such as OTOFUN.

Technically, Powershift is the first dual-clutch transmission developed by Ford. Therefore, many opinions say that this product has design flaws, which is not too difficult to understand. However, when the troubles exceed the tolerance of consumers, of course the manufacturer will face inevitable complaints.

For the above reasons, the law firm Stern Law, representing the plaintiff in this case, asserted that Ford must be responsible for its design and manufacturing errors in the Powershift gearbox. Stern Law also stated that the disadvantages of this gearbox will seriously affect the safety of the vehicle, as well as cause consumers to waste money on repairs and at the same time lose the value of the vehicles.

For its part, Ford declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying only that it remains “committed to bringing the best quality vehicles to consumers.”

In 2016, Ford Vietnam also recalled 8,355 vehicles in the domestic market due to transmission-related errors, including 2,150 EcoSports, 4/179 Fiestas, and 2,010 Focuses (along with some imported Fiesta models). However, this recall was only to update the software to help warn and detect early electrical circuit errors in the transmission control unit.

According to Hanoi Moi Newspaper