2024-03-11 22:18:00
Ford Transit ConnectPhoto: Ford
According to the quoted source, the manufacturer even went so far as to install “fake seats in the back (of the cabin) and other temporary devices to make these vans pass as passenger vehicles.”
“These rear seats were never intended to be used to carry passengers,” the ministry said.
“Once through customs, the seats were quickly removed from each of these vehicles which were returned to their original identity as a two-seater commercial vehicle,” he explains, referring to a manufacturer’s facility located right at the port for this purpose.
Between April 2009 and August 2013, this trick allowed Ford to pay import duties of just 2.5%, instead of the 25% applied to goods vehicles.
“Ford strongly disagrees with many of the assertions in the DoJ statement and disclaims any responsibility in this matter,” the company said.
“But in the spirit of not moving forward with this complex, decade-old dispute, we have agreed to settle this matter once and for all,” she concluded.
Of the $365 million it will pay, nearly $183.5 million represents unpaid customs duties as a result of the scheme, according to the agreement between the manufacturer and the government, made public by the ministry.
The court said that nearly 163,000 Transit Connect vehicles (small vans of about 3 m3, according to Ford’s website) were imported from Turkey during this period.
The court also alleges that Ford under-declared the value to customs, particularly by using the wrong exchange rate or incorrectly accounting for discounts.
“The government will not allow companies to evade customs duties by adding false features to their products and then misclassifying them,” said Troy Miller, a senior official with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). ), quoted in the ministry’s press release.
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