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20 Years of Stonewalling

Ford Settles Ignition Suit

October 25, 2001
After nearly 20 years of wrangling, delaying tactics and legal maneuvering, Ford Motor Co. has finally agreed to pay for replacing faulty ignitions on millions of Broncos, Explorers, Escorts, Mustangs, Tauruses and other cars and trucks.

Earlier Stories August 15, 2001 Oct. 11, 2000 Dec. 20, 1999

The settlement reached in a San Francisco-area court will cover nearly 23 million vehicles produced from 1983 to 1995, about 9 million of which are no longer on the road. The ignition system was placed too close to the engine in the affected models, causing the cars to overheat and stall.

The settlement could cost Ford as much as $2 billion if all the vehicle owners come forward to collect an average payment of $160 to cover parts and labor. Besides California, the settlement covers similar class-action lawsuits in Alabama, Maryland, Tennessee and Washington.

Ford has fought the case every step of the way, angering auto safety activists who said the delays allowed an unsafe condition to persist. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration studied the case but ultimately declined to order a recall, further angering safety advocates.

Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety praised the settlement, saying it sends a message to automakers that "it's no longer cheaper to stonewall than recall." Former NHTSA Administrator Joan Claybrook said the case shows the importance of consumer class action litigation as a way to hold companies responsible when government fails to act.

On Oct. 11, after more than six months of trial in Alameda County Superior Court, Judge Michael E. Ballachey affirmed an earlier decision which found that Ford had engaged in "massive consumer fraud" by "concealing a serious safety defect" from consumers and regulators. Ballachey, who earlier speculated that Ford was living in an "Alice in Wonderland" dreamworld, had also ordered Ford to recall and repair affected vehicles in California. The recall issue is still outstanding but under the terms of today's settlement, Ford agreed to pay for repairs on all affected vehicles.

"The evidence that Ford intentionally concealed this safety defect from the public was overwhelming," said co-lead plaintiffs counsel Jeffrey Fazio of Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft LLP. "It is time for Ford to ... make good on its promise to act in the best interests of consumers."

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