Ronn Torossian, CEO, 5WPR 

At home, here in the United States, Ford Motor Company has been able to avoid some of the bad press that has dogged its competition in recent years. As GM, Volkswagen, Toyota, and others faced recalls and international scandals, Ford thrived. Now, though, bad news is making its way across the Pacific, with stories of court settlements Ford is facing in Thailand. 

The company was sued in Bangkok and charged with selling cars “equipped with faulty transmissions,." an allegation that caused a Thai court to offer 291 customers a $720,000 judgement. 

While that figure may seem small based on recent judgments against other auto manufacturers, the context in this case matters. Consumers are often disappointed when bringing cases to civil court in Thailand, because the courts do not often rule in their favor. In this case, though, plaintiffs were awarded anywhere between $800 and $8,000 for repairs. 

So, as both the plaintiffs and various consumer rights groups cheered the verdict, Ford was offered an opportunity to respond in a way that could either repair the company’s reputation or confirm some consumers’ fears. Ford chose the former. 

“We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the Powershift transmission problems, and we reiterate that we will work earnestly to take responsibility for fixing them according to our customer service procedures…." 

The statement was gracious, apologetic, and direct. Ford took responsibility and vowed to make it right. No dissembling and no doublespeak. It was a well-crafted and generally well-received message that proved effective on more than one continent. 

While it mostly stayed out of the international headlines, Ford recently settled a class-action lawsuit, agreeing to pay for repairs to certain model years of its Focus and Fiesta compact cars. These, too, reported transmission trouble, and that news came on the heels of a multi-million-dollar fine leveled by Australian regulators over “mishandled complaints." about “faulty transmissions." in “thousands." of other Ford cars. 

So, with all these issues seeming to come right on top of each other, how has Ford managed to mainly stay below the radar of consumer news publications? In many ways, it’s because of how the company has handled the problems. They took responsibility, admitted mistakes, settled the suits, and fixed the problems. And through it all, the company’s communication was clear, concise, and responsible.