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Ford Found Not Guilty In Commercial Truck Pricing Lawsuit

A Cleveland jury has found that Ford Motor Company did not breach pricing contracts with commercial truck dealers.

The finding follows the retrial of a case that previously resulted in a $2 billion judgment against The Blue Oval. During that trial, plaintiffs — comprised of select Ford dealers — claimed that Ford offered secret discounts to some dealers even though it was required by sales and service contracts to disclose all prices to all dealers. The plaintiffs said that they were excluded from discounts and ended up paying more for vehicles, thereby decreasing their profitability. Ford denied any wrongdoing in breaching agreements or overcharging dealers, asserting that a program that offered discounts to some wasn’t barred by the contract. The jury sided with Ford in September.

“The men and women who worked for Ford and who have been involved in this program for three decades have been vindicated,” said Ford’s trial lawyer James Feeney in an interview. “Our view all along is that there was no breach of this contract.”

Legal proceedings initiated by plaintiffs initially began in 2002, with dealers claiming that The Blue Oval violated an agreement to sell trucks at published prices, allegedly leading the dealers to pay more for the vehicles from 1987 to 1998. Dealers sought $784.7 million in damages, as well as interest that would be added to any judgement.

The first trial in the allegation took place in Cleveand, Ohio’s Cuyahoga County, where Judge Peter J. Corrigan awarded dealers $2 billion, including $1.2 billion in interest, to a class of about 3,000 dealers in 2011. In 2012, a state appeals court ordered a new trial after finding that Corrigan improperly excluded evidence that might have helped Ford.

Motrolix Founder with a passion for global automotive business strategy.

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