A national class action lawsuit challenging the auto lending practices of Ford Motor Credit Company (FMCC) and its brand name Primus Automotive Financial Services, Inc. (PRIMUS) began on Tuesday.
Primus, the named defendant in the case, is a division of FMCC. It offers automobile financing services to consumers throughout the nation using the brand names Mazda American Credit, Land Rover Credit, and Jaguar Credit, pursuant to contracts with Mazda, Land Rover, and Jaguar.
Plaintiffs contend that the credit pricing policies developed and managed for Primus by FMCC and marketed using either Ford Credit, Mazda American Credit, Land Rover Credit, or Jaguar Credit discriminate by charging African Americans more for credit, for reasons not related to creditworthiness.