Manufacturer captive finance arms Ford Credit and General Motors Acceptance Corp. (GMAC) have scored significant victories in defending against law suits claiming Hispanic and black buyers were charged excessive rates on vehicle loans.

In Chicago, Federal District Judge Suzanne Conlon dismissed a suit by Rudi Rodriguez, a Hispanic purchaser. She earlier had denied a plaintiff's motion to declare the suit a class action. The dismissal was requested by the plaintiffs as "being in their best interest," an attorney for the plaintiff said.

A Nashville, Tenn., suit against GMAC on behalf of Addie Coleman, an African American, was approved for class-action status in the District Court. Then in July, the ruling was overturned by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

The "class" sought for the Coleman suit would have covered thousands of black customers in Tennessee. The motion in the Rodriguez Chicago litigation asked that the "class" include more than one million Hispanic customers of Ford since 1990.

A study of Ford Credit loans to Hispanic customers in the Rodriguez case contended they were charged $266 more per transaction on average than white purchasers. This allegation is the core issue for the GMAC case in Nashville, as well as one against Nissan Motor Acceptance in Nashville and another suit against Ford Credit in New York City. Rodriguez alleged he bought a 1999 Ford Escort and was charged 18.95 percent interest, comparable to nonprime loan rates.

All three captive lenders have denied discrimination in setting interest rates. Nissan's response in the Nashville case said any above-average rates may have been set by dealers.

Commenting on the dismissal of the Rodriguez suit, Ford Credit spokesman Dan Jarvis said the dismissal vindicated the company's claim it did nothing wrong. "We do not and have not discriminated against our Hispanic customers, or any other group," Jarvis stated.

Ford Credit said the 7,500 dealerships it serves in the United States set their loan policies individually. The lender said it does not know the race or ethnicity of any borrower or lessee when it considers their contract applications. There is not a space on the applications in which to enter the race of the prospective borrower.