Ford Powershift Lawsuit Reaches High Court Of Australia

For several years now, owners of 2011-2016 Ford Fiesta and 2012-2016 Focus models equipped with the problematic Ford Powershift transmission – the subject of numerous lawsuits – have faced extended repair delays as a result supply chain issues, compounding an issue that continues to perpetuate to this day in the U.S., on that has also expanded to include new models and lawsuits. However, it isn’t just American owners of those impacted Fiesta and Focus models that are dealing with Powershift problems, as a lawsuit over the same issue is now headed to the High Court of Australia as well, according to CarExpert.

Though Ford Australia ultimately opted to extend the warranty for affected models way back in 2014, the country’s consumer watchdog  group – the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – pursued the matter and wound up reaching a $10 million dollar settlement with Ford back in 2016. However, shortly thereafter, a class-action lawsuit was filed by an owner of one of those vehicles, alledging that the automaker failed “to comply with the statutory guarantee as set out by Australian Consumer Law,” a complaint with which the court agreed and led to a payment of just over $17k to the plaintiff.

Ford later appealed this decision, though a judge upheld it in November 2023. Regardless, this legal battle will now head to the High Court, as final damages have yet to be determined. “Ford is the respondent in the appeal before the High Court,” a Ford Australia spokesperson said. “In the appeal, the High Court has been asked to consider the correct interpretation of a section of Australian consumer law that relates to damages payable in cases where there has been a breach of acceptable quality.”

Around 70,000 Fiesta, Focus, and EcoSport models equipped with the troublesome PowerShift transmission were sold in Australia between January 2011 and November 2018, after which the automaker discovered that the clutch lining, input shaft seals, and control module were prone to failure, which can lead to all sorts of symptoms – including unexpected deceleration, hesitation when changing gears, and in some cases, a complete loss of power.

We’ll have more on the Powershift transmission soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford lawsuit news, Ford Fiesta news, Ford Focus news, and non-stop Ford news coverage.