The Federal Court of Australia recently published a decision of interest concerning the assessment of damages in defective motor vehicle class actions. In Capic v Ford Motor Company, the plaintiff class successfully established that certain Ford motor vehicles supplied with a defective Powershift Transmission breached the guarantee of acceptable quality under s54 of the Australian Consumer Law.
In Capic v Ford Motor Company [2026] FCA 38, the Court considered the assessment of damages under various heads of loss. First, the court held that damages for reduction in value should be assessed at 30%.
Second, the Court held that a chose in action for damages for the breach of the acceptable quality guarantee extends to successors in title (i.e. second hand owners have the right to claim damages for a reduction in value). However, owners who bought a vehicle second hand from a dealer are not entitled to the same claim as once the vehicle is returned to the dealer, the claim is extinguished and cannot “spring back to life”. Instead, those purchasers have “their own claim for reduction in value damages under their own s54 guarantee,” albeit for a different amount.
Fiona Roughley SC appeared for the class members.