Ford Motor Co. has agreed to pay $299.1 million to settle claims arising out of the use of defective Takata Corp. airbags. The settlement will apply to the owners of approximately 6 million Ford vehicles.
Under the terms of the deal, Ford will inform affected consumers about the recall of cars. The settlement will provide compensation to consumers for their losses resulting from the recall, including the reimbursement of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses or up to a $500 payment for those who did not document their out-of-pocket expenses. Ford will also provide rental cars for class members while they wait for their recall repairs.
Ford is the seventh automaker to reach a settlement relating to the defective Takata airbags. Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, and BMW agreed to pay a combined $553.6 million in May 2017. Nissan settled for $98 million in August, and Honda agreed last September to a $605 million settlement.
Takata has pled guilty to wire fraud, agreed to pay $1 billion in fines and restitution and acknowledged that it ran a scheme to use false reports and other misrepresentations to convince automakers to buy air bag systems that contained faulty, inferior or otherwise defective inflators. In June, the company filed for bankruptcy in Delaware and Japan.
The MDL is In re: Takata Airbag Products Liability Litigation, case number 1:15-md-02599, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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