Sacramento Bee, "Plaintiffs say Ford deceived auto buyers about Explorer safety"

          In a case that puts more than $2 billion in Ford Motor Co. profits at stake, plaintiffs' lawyers told a Sacramento judge Tuesday that the automaker deceived consumers by marketing its rollover-prone 1990s-era Explorers as safe replacements for family station wagons. Ford's lawyers countered that the Explorer was the safest vehicle in its class, with positive ratings from safety agencies and consumer magazines.
          Plaintiffs' lawyers are seeking huge amounts of money from Ford when the company has done nothing wrong, and blaming it for accidents caused by defective Firestone tires, a defense attorney argued. The lawyers outlined their cases in opening statements Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 400,000 Ford Explorer owners statewide. The lawsuit consolidates cases from Northern and Southern California and seeks a return of unjust profits under the state's unfair competition and false advertising laws. With a half-dozen high-powered lawyers on each side, it is being tried in Sacramento Superior Court before Judge David DeAlba, who will decide the case without a jury.
          Plaintiff lawyer Elizabeth Cabraser of San Francisco told DeAlba he had broad powers to craft a remedy if he finds Ford deceived its customers. The judge could order Ford to give up more than $2 billion or the portion of those profits earned from rushing the Explorer to production, Cabraser said. He also could order restitution of what plaintiffs' experts estimate is the $1,100 to $1,300 in extra profits Ford earned through its alleged wrongdoing on each of 415,000 Explorers sold in California, she said.