Senators want investigation of Ford
Say company misled people to buy “faulty” cars.
Two U.S. senators have called for an immediate federal investigation of Ford Motor Co.’s decision to knowingly launch and continue for years to sell Fiesta and Focus vehicles with defective transmissions despite thousands of complaints and a deluge of repairs.
Separately, the chairman of the U.S. House committee with oversight of the agency charged with traffic safety said he was troubled by the National Highway Traffic Administration’s “wait-andsee approach towards an avalanche of consumer complaints” and must hold Ford accountable.
Their comments follow the Detroit Free Press Out of Gear investigation released July 11 based on internal company documents and emails showing that Ford put the cars on sale in 2010-11 despite knowing they were prone to randomly slipping into neutral and starting unevenly. That means the cars, equipped with a dual-clutch transmission that Ford called the DPS6, can lose acceleration at times, including on freeways, and have unexpectedly bolted forward. Both, according to consumer complaints, have caused accidents and injuries.
“This is a bombshell report on Ford’s systematic efforts to hide transmission safety defects and mislead consumers to buy faulty cars. Ford knowingly put American families and children at risk – this indifference to safety is inexcusable,” said U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, in a joint statement to the Free Press.
“NHTSA must take the thousands of complaints it has received from scared consumers seriously and immediately open a defect investigation into the Ford Fiesta and Focus vehicles to identify how deep Ford’s lies are buried,” the lawmakers said.
The Free Press investigation found at least 4,300 complaints to federal safety officials related to the transmission problems for the 2011-16 Fiesta and 2012-16 Focus.
Markey and Blumenthal oversee highway safety and transportation issues as members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Ford spokesman TR Reid responded to the congressional calls for review.
“Automobiles using the DPS6 transmission were and remain safe to drive,” he told the Free Press. “Ford’s work and comments on these vehicles have always been thorough and truthful.”
Ford has maintained through the years that because steering, brakes and other systems continue working when the cars slip out of gear, the so-called “unintended neutral” events are not a safety issue.
‘Ignoring obvious problems’
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees and authorizes funds for NHTSA, also responded to the investigation with a statement to the Free Press.
“Reports that Ford was knowingly selling vehicles with safety defects are deeply disturbing. Equally disturbing is NHTSA’s wait-and-see approach towards an avalanche of consumer complaints about serious automobile safety issues,” said the New Jersey Democrat. “We’ve seen this before – automakers putting profits before safety and NHTSA ignoring the obvious problems.”
Pallone, D-N.J., the son of a police officer who sold cars after retiring, said, “NHTSA must do its job to hold Ford accountable.”
Policymakers noted that Ford’s public statements in response to the investigation appeared to reinforce the Free Press findings. When asked how the automaker can promote the cars as road
safe, Ford officials repeatedly point to the fact that NHTSA has never required the company to recall the vehicles.
NHTSA conferred with Ford in 2014 and declined to open a formal investigation.
The company did add an “overt warning” light to the cars in 2015 that tells drivers the transmission is malfunctioning, which regulators wanted.
Tuesday morning, the federal traffic safety agency provided a statement to the Free Press: “NHTSA shares the sense of urgency about this and other high-priority safety concerns. Our mission as an agency and the approach that we take to our review of every safety matter is founded on concern for public safety and a reliance on data, science and facts.
“NHTSA continuously monitors a variety of data sources, including media reports and consumer complaints, revisits issues as appropriate, and will not hesitate to take action if and as warranted to ensure safety. NHTSA will, as always, act appropriately and responsibly related to any safety matter when there is evidence of an unreasonable risk to safety.”
Ignoring warnings
At least 1.5 million Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus vehicles with the DPS6 transmission remain on the road and many drivers who have contacted the Free Press say they continue to have problems and fear for their safety, in most cases despite repair attempts.
By 2016, Ford documents show that 350,000 of the cars had been repaired three or more times, and dealership mechanics reported extreme frustration that the problems kept recurring.
The Free Press investigation found that the automaker pushed past company lawyers’ early safety questions and a veteran development engineer’s warning that the cars weren’t roadworthy. Ford then declined, after the depth of the problem was obvious, to make an expensive change in the transmission technology.
Findings included:
❚ Ford knew its popular low-cost 2011 Fiesta and 2012 Focus cars had defective automatic transmissions before the cars went on sale.
❚ Ford in October 2011 decided to change the transmission technology, but didn’t follow through.
❚ Customers have reported at least 50 injuries to federal authorities related to symptoms of the defect.
❚ Federal regulators inquired after four years of extraordinarily high consumer complaints and declined to open an investigation or order a recall.
❚ Internal Ford documents show the company cut corners to save money and boost fuel efficiency.
❚ Ford is facing billions of dollars in warranty costs and potential liability in lawsuits.
The investigation was inspired by a 70-page report Ford filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in April, the last sentence of which warned investors about potential liability from litigation related to its dual-clutch DPS6 transmission.
‘People at risk’
Michael Kirkpatrick, an attorney at the nonprofit Public Citizen consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C., said safety concerns spotlighted by the Out of Gear investigation change the public debate.
“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was led to believe the transmissions were just a performance issue,” Kirkpatrick said. “Evidence is growing that it’s a safety problem. This warrants an investigation. And, depending on their findings, a possible recall.”
Kirkpatrick is the lawyer who intervened pro bono as a third party appealing the class-action settlement, saying the negotiated deal between Ford and a class-action law firm in California is unfair to consumers. His April argument is under review currently by the U.S. Court of Appeals.