Ford Defeats Class Certification in F-150 Transmission Lawsuit

A federal judge ruled in favor of Compass Lexecon client Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) in a class action lawsuit involving a group of F-150 owners (“Plaintiffs”) who alleged that Ford knowingly sold defective trucks to over 200,000 buyers. Plaintiffs sought class certification for damages and injunctive relief, including a corrective recall campaign.

Compass Lexecon Senior Consultant Professor Peter Rossi was retained on behalf of Ford to address liability and damages issues, including rebutting “overpayment” and “cost to replace” damages theories, as well as related use of a conjoint survey methodology. Professor Rossi submitted a report and testified in deposition during the class-certification phase of the case.

On September 14, 2026, US District Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings of the Northern District of Illinois denied class certification. The Court found that Ford’s New Vehicle Limited Warranty barred customers from suing as part of a class action, and with respect to the non-warranty-related claims, the Court found that Plaintiffs “failed to present sufficiently persuasive evidence to show that the class vehicles suffer from a common defect attributable to a common cause…”

Professor Rossi was supported by a Compass Lexecon team that included Niall MacMenamin, Zhaoning (Nancy) Wang, Zsofia Sipos, and affiliate Christopher Gingerich. Compass Lexecon worked closely with attorneys from Kasowitz LLP, including Cindy Caranella Kelly and Stephen P. Thomasch, who successfully represented Ford.