It has come to light that Ford Motor Company knowingly launched two products with defective gearboxes. The two fuel-efficient and cost-effective models are the popular Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus. The brand continued selling these cars despite numerous complaints from consumers.
During the recession in 2010, the country had born losses and Ford Motor Company had barely made it through the phase, fuel prices were high and the economic standards were tightened. Car sales were on a downtrend but the new dual-clutch transmission claimed efficiency of nearly 17 Kmpl (40 MPG) and the country needed a fuel-efficient car.
Ford had developed a new DPS6 Dual-Clutch automatic transmission which was equipped on the 2011 Ford Fiesta cars and then later on 2012 Ford Focus cars. It is being reported that 1.5 million of those still remain on road. During development, it was found by the engineer’s that the transmission on the cars was not roadworthy and company lawyers’ warned about the safety in question but the company went ahead and sold the models.
At least 4300 complaints were made to the federal safety officials about the unpredictable transmission which could suddenly lose power in the motorway or bolt into power which would be very dangerous when on an intersection.
Prior to the transmission use, the engineers in the department internally reported that the clutch torque delivery was inaccurate and causing juddering due to the variable clutch torque delivery. The calibration could not be used and quality on parts could have been compromised.
The company tried fixing the problem and spent vast amounts of money, over the years and according to a report in 2016, the total quality-related spending could reach USD 3 Billion by the year 2020. But even after spending millions of dollars the DPS6 transmission could not be fixed and the company faced lawsuits from angry customers and even Ford loyalists who may not buy another Ford.