Texas Consumers Hit Ford with Class Action Lawsuit Over Allegedly Overstated Fuel Economy Ratings

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Ford Motor Company faces a proposed class action in which two Texas consumers allege the automaker knowingly overstated the fuel economies of certain 2017-2019 model year vehicles.

According to the lawsuit, Ford, in February 2019, announced that its fuel economy testing procedures—which are tied directly to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) fuel economy ratings that appear in advertisements and federally mandated window stickers—were inaccurate. As a result, the fuel economies of a number of Ford vehicle models, stressed by the plaintiffs as one of the most important metrics taken into consideration by consumers looking to buy or lease a car, were overstated, the case out of Michigan says.

The plaintiffs argue that Ford “knew or should have known” of the inaccuracies of its vehicles’ miles-per-gallon (MPG) ratings and “consciously or recklessly” ignored facts that indicated such. Proposed class members have been damaged by Ford’s conduct in that they were misled into buying vehicles that “were of a different quality than they were promised,” the case alleges, and have thus ended up “paying higher fuel costs” than they may have paid had they known the truth about Ford’s fuel economy ratings.

The lawsuit looks to represent a national class and Texas- and Washington-only subclasses of individuals who bought or leased a vehicle with inflated fuel economy claims.