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OPENING STATEMENT (FORD TRANSMISSION CASE)

These remarks by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator opened a hearing convened by the Agency to allow Ford Motor Company and other parties to comment on apparent defects in five automatic transmissions in Ford vehicles sold after Aug 1972 and manufactured prior to Oct 1979. On 9 Jun 1980, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) made an initial determination that Ford C-3, C-4, C-6, FMX, and JATCO automatic transmissions have safety-related defects. At that time, NHTSA's investigative file contained more than 23,000 reports of Ford vehicles slipping out of parking gear, and reports of 1700 injuries and 97 fatalities alleged to have resulted from accidents caused by the defective transmissions. Thousands of additional failures were reported but were discounted by the investigative staff for various reasons. Some of the transmissions do not provide a satisfactory internal lock to keep the transmissions from shifting from park into reverse. On other transmissions, the locking mechanism itself can bind midway between park and reverse, and the gear selector may be left on the land between park and reverse. Ford has contended that driver error in shifting is the problem. NHTSA-generated publicity during the investigation was limited to two consumer advisories; Ford itself issued statements to the press denying the existence of a defect. In its preliminary comments to NHTSA, Ford questioned the accuracy of the number of complaints, alleged that the higher incidence of reports of Ford vehicle failures is the result of NHTSA publicity, and challenged the adequacy of the technical support for the initial determination.

Media Info

  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: 12 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00368411
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  • Report/Paper Numbers: HS-810 379
  • Files: HSL, USDOT
  • Created Date: Nov 30 1982 12:00AM