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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A federal judge said Wednesday plaintiffs in a lawsuit had proved that a lending affiliate of Ford Motor Co. discriminated against black customers by charging them higher rates on car loans. But the judge gave the two sides another 30 days to come up with a plan to end the practice and settle the case.

After a two-week trial, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger announced from the bench that she would rule against Primus Automotive Financial Services, a unit of the Ford Motor Credit Corp.

But before issuing a final ruling, she asked both sides to negotiate for 30 days to draft a proposal on how to end the discrimination and said both sides could still agree to settle the case.

"What I have decided is that the plaintiffs have proved their case and that they will win in my decision," Trauger said.

She said that, by agreeing to negotiate, the defendants were not giving up their right to appeal a final decision.

"I am of the opinion that courts ought not to overly intrude and tinker in all the details of something like this. I would much prefer that I get a proposal from the parties here," Trauger said. "However, if I am put to it, I will decide how I will structure the remedy in this case."

The lawsuit lists 11 named plaintiffs, but attorneys said thousands of black customers were discriminated against and are included in the class. Attorneys said they were unfairly charged hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they should have been on car loans.

The plaintiffs are not seeking damages in the case.

Primus spokeswoman Meredith Libbey said the company disagrees with the judge's conclusions.

"We uphold the highest standards of fair lending. We do not believe the record in the case supports any finding of discrimination," Libbey wrote.

Lead plaintiff lawyer Clint Watkins declined to comment on Wednesday's hearing.

The data used in the lawsuit are from 2001 and 2002, but Watkins said during the trial that discriminatory car loan practices have been common since the 1950s.

Since 1998, several lawsuits were filed against auto financing companies, alleging discrimination against blacks. Those suits have resulted in five out-of-court settlements. The class action against Primus is the first to go to trial.

The settlements in other cases have included the companies placing caps on the interest-rate markups that dealers can make to loans and establishing lending programs for minority customers.

Marking up a loan is a practice in which dealers add percentage points of interest to a loan and, in agreement with the finance company, get to keep most of the extra interest money.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Primus attorney Tom Byrne said the plaintiffs should have targeted auto dealers. "Primus has no control over dealers in setting markups," he said. "That fact towers over all others in this case."

GARY TANNER of the ASSOCIATED PRESS

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