Ford penalised for Mustang Mach 1 mistakes

Stuffing up the specifications of the Ford Mustang Mach 1 has cost Ford Australia $53,280 in infringement notice penalties issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Ford is being punished for “allegedly misleading” consumers about the performance features of the limited-edition $83,365 Ford Mustang Mach 1 in four different versions of brochures it published online and distributed to dealers and its customer relationship centre between October 2020 and April 2021.

All four brochures falsely listed rear parking sensors, LED fog lamps, Mustang Mach 1 floor mats, ambient lighting in the door pockets and a Torsen limited-slip differential as standard equipment.

Three brochures stated the Mach 1 came with adaptive cruise control, which was also false.

The ACCC became involved in the issue after receiving complaints from disgruntled Mach 1 buyers.

“We allege Ford made serious mistakes in its brochures outlining the features of the more expensive Mustang Mach 1, resulting in false claims being made to consumers in breach of the Australian Consumer Law,” said ACCC chair Rod Sims.

“The performance characteristics of the Ford Mustang Mach 1 were an important selling point, so these claims about key features of the Mach 1 vehicle may have led some consumers to buy the car who may otherwise have opted to purchase another vehicle.”

Ford removed the incorrect information from the brochures in April 2021 and began contacting buyers of the Mustang Mach 1 to offer compensation soon after.

The compensation offer was finalised in August 2021, following ACCC intervention.

The ACCC issued the four infringement notices reflecting different versions of the brochure published.

In addition to paying the penalties specified in the infringement notices, Ford agreed to provide an improved compensation offer to the 700 Mustang Mach 1 buyers.

Under Ford’s compensation offer, consumers who bought a Mustang Mach 1 before August 17, 2021, can choose between two options: returning their vehicle and receiving a full refund, or receiving $5400 compensation as well as three years of free scheduled servicing and a track day experience at a Supercars event featuring, among others, admission to the event and a ride in one of Ford’s race cars.

Almost all Mustang Mach 1 vehicles were purchased before August 17, 2021.

Consumers who bought their Mustang Mach 1 after August 16, 2021, are eligible for the compensation, servicing and track day but do not have the option of returning the vehicle for a full refund under Ford’s compensation offer.

An official Ford statement said the cause of the specifications blunder lay within its local office and the issue had been reviewed to avoid any repetitions.

“There are always small specification differences between left-hand drive and right-hand drive Mustangs. Not recognising a few of these differences specific to the Mach 1 – features that were never available to us – was an oversight by us as the local team,” the company said.

“We didn’t catch these differences before the first rounds of brochures and the website were published, and for this, we are really sorry.

“We are especially disappointed that our loyal and engaged Ford customers and Mach 1 owners feel let down.

“We have undertaken a review of how the errors came to be made and implemented preventative measures to seek to ensure that the process causes leading to the errors are not repeated in future.”

The Torsen LSD is a type of LSD manufactured by the JTKET corporation which was included in the left-hand drive version of the Mach 1 in the US.

The right-hand drive Mustang Mach 1 does not have a Torsen LSD but instead contains a Ford LSD with the addition of an external differential oil cooler.

In announcing the penalties, the ACCC stated the payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law, which also sets the penalty amount.

The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain consumer protection provisions in the Australian Consumer Law.