Hum Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Ford Motor Co. must pay nearly $2 billion in damages to thousands of dealerships in a 2002 class-action lawsuit that said the automaker violated dealer agreements, an Ohio judge ruled Friday. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Peter Corrigan in Cleveland issued the ruling based on a Feb. 11 jury determination that the company overcharged dealers for commercial trucks over an 11-year period. The $2 billion award covers more than 3,000 dealerships and about 474,000 trucks. It includes a judgment of about $781 million and about $1.2 billion in interest. "In awarding the dealers the amount of money they overpaid for trucks, the jury verdict places ... the dealers in the financial position contemplated by the terms of the contract," said James Lowe, a Cleveland attorney for Westgate Ford Truck Sales Inc., a dealership in Youngstown that represents the class. Ford's annual report, filed on Feb. 28, says the class action included all dealers who purchased a 600 series or higher truck from Ford from 1987 to 1997. It says the lawsuit accused the automaker of failing to reveal that price concessions were given to some dealers. Ford said in a Friday statement that the company will appeal. more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted June 11, 2011 Member Share Posted June 11, 2011 It says the lawsuit accused the automaker of failing to reveal that price concessions were given to some dealers. Not cool at all Ford. You need to treat every dealer the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheatyface Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Not cool at all Ford. You need to treat every dealer the same. Why should the dealer that sells 50 of these trucks a year get the same price deal as the dealer who sells 500 of these trucks a year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollick2 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Why should the dealer that sells 50 of these trucks a year get the same price deal as the dealer who sells 500 of these trucks a year? Because its the same vehicle and it does not support a fair market. If one dealer gets the trucks cheaper, then they can sell the trucks cheaper and gain a higher profit margin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheatyface Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Because its the same vehicle and it does not support a fair market. If one dealer gets the trucks cheaper, then they can sell the trucks cheaper and gain a higher profit margin. So bulk discounts aren't fair? That's news to me. Might wanna let small retailers know that so they can sue for not getting the same deal as larger ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I'd feel worse for the consumers than the dealers.. where do you think that ~$2 billion is going to come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollick2 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 So bulk discounts aren't fair? That's news to me. Might wanna let small retailers know that so they can sue for not getting the same deal as larger ones. When the discounts are undisclosed they aren't fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheatyface Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 When the discounts are undisclosed they aren't fair. If a dealer has never sold enough of a model to qualify for them, they don't need to know about them. It's not illegal to have different pricing for better performing dealers, on a dealer by dealer basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCA Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I love my state there's never a dull moment...something is always happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJohnSmitherson Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 How did they "overpay"? They were told, you can get these vehicles for x amount of dollars, and they bought it. :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abecedarian paradoxious Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 600 and 700 series trucks were made by "Blue Diamond, LLC", a joint partnership between Ford and Navistar, Navistar being the remnants of Intenational Harvester after divesting themselves from farm equipment and such (after which IHC merged with Case, Solar merged with Caterpillar, etc.). How does Ford become the sole recipient of charges since the vehicles weren't exclusively manufactured by Ford? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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