This isn't the engineers Fault....They told ferd about this issue of the trans being a dry clutch type not wet clutch type and warned ferd about the catastrophe looming on the horizon if It was put into production without solving the issue. But ferd in their we know more than you ya silly engineer.... went ahead and released the vehicle knowing of the issue anyways.
Its really kind of funny as that type of mindset at Ford goes back a long way. The built the Pinto knowing that if a car hit it hard it could explode due to Gas tank location. That was in the 70’s they were sued for that as well. It was another case of they did a calculated risk vs odds situation. They figured it was minimal they lost because they were aware it could be an issue.
If you watch Ford vs Ferrari that same mindset was present at the highest most levels of the Company as one of the main guys answering to Henry Ford the II was actually trying to outguess Carroll Shelby and his choices at almost every turn( lol no pun intended) .
Fact is its not surprising they have suffered from that. Ford has been known notoriously for one that likes to prove people wrong and once they have made their point taking their toys and going home.
Its a corporate issue at Ford.
Looked up some info. Don't think it will be a big deal for Ford. The Settlement will pay from $20 up to $22K. To get money you have to prove the car went in for service 3 times or more. The only buy back will be what is already authorized by State lemon laws and cars with 4 "qualifying" repairs in 5 years. If you had a transmission replaced you get a little over $2300. It appears to apply to the original owners only as it says people that have sold the car will still qualify for service issues while you owned it. They had already bought back thousands of cars spending more than the amount of this settlement ($47 million) so I doubt there will be that many more to buy back. The average settlement will be the $20-$2300 it seems and probably leans towards the smaller side. The settlement was for a minimum of $30 million before the Lawyers get paid and they will get probably $8-10 million. If that leaves $22 million that would only buy back 1000 more cars. Since this was never a recall issue Ford gets off pretty lightly. Best part is with the millions still on the road Ford will make the money back on future repairs from people that bought one used, LOL! And check this out " you'll need to submit arbitration
notices by Oct. 6, 2020. Wait any later, and you can kiss your cash goodbye."
Ya to top it off most of the original owners have sold their Focus , so they may not get a payment if they did not claim and second hand owners are not eligible. Ask me how I know . Lol I was a second hand owner of a DCT Focus. It worked great for me I did have to replace a TCM under the extended warranty but the car shifted smoothly yet it did do the hill rollback tango. It also did the rev up like a spun clutch driving the down the freeway occasionally. I just took it all in stride and managed to log 40k on the car doing ridesharte for fun and extra cash. Till rideshare became not worth it and I got sick of it. LOL
None the less car drove great when I sold It.