Roush accused of defrauding buyers

Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, was accused in a lawsuit of misleading buyers of the Roush Stage 3 BlackJack, a high-performance car, by claiming it would make only 100 of them.

Ford and privately held Roush Performance Products collaborate on the Stage 3 BlackJack, a modified version of the Ford Mustang. In a complaint filed today in federal court in Manhattan, a New York man who paid $58,000 for the car last year claims the companies defrauded buyers when they said they'd make only 100 vehicles.

“The defendants knew that they would be manufacturing more than 100,'' the plaintiff, Drew Connor, said in his complaint. “The defendants produced another 100 which would then be sold in 2008.''

Connor said his car's value fell with the production of more vehicles. His suit, which seeks class-action, or group, status, asks for damages of at least $11.8 million.

Ford spokesman Mark Truby declined to comment. A message left with Roush Performance Products, of Livonia, Michigan, wasn't immediately returned. Bloomberg