US auto giant Ford has agreed to pay $365 million to settle a civil lawsuit related to allegedly disguising imported cargo vans as passenger cars with lower tariffs, US authorities said, AFP reported.
Ford, which denies wrongdoing, was accused of using the scheme between 2009 and 2013 to avoid paying higher duties on Transit Connect trucks imported from Turkey by declaring them as passenger vehicles, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Ford installed "fictitious rear seats and other temporary items to make the vans appear to be passenger vehicles," the DOJ alleged.
In fact, "the temporary rear seats were never intended and were never used to transport passengers," the statement said. After going through customs, Ford allegedly removed the fake seats, returning the vehicle to "its original identity as a two-seat cargo van."
The alleged fraud allowed Ford to pay import duties of only 2.5%, as opposed to the 25% duty imposed on trucks. The Justice Department said that nearly 163,000 Transit Connects were imported from Turkey during the period.
Ford has been fighting in the courts for years, claiming the rear seats are real.
The settlement states that Ford does not admit liability, but that the two sides reached a settlement "to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience and expense associated with protracted litigation."
The $365 million payment includes nearly $184 million to recover unpaid duties, with the remainder in penalties, the agreement says. / BGNES
