GM hit with $10B lawsuit for losses on 27M recalled cars

[Haltech]

Filed under: Government/Legal, GM



Attorneys are continuing to fight to prove that the recalls from General Motors this year allegedly affect vehicle resale values. A $10 billion lawsuit, which is hoping to obtain class-action status, could cover as many as 27 million vehicles and consolidates hundreds of smaller claims. This latest case appears to be related to the one from June in California but is now in a New York court. Both are brought by the law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The case covers people who bought or leased a recalled vehicle from the so-called New GM from July 2009 to July 2014, as long as they kept it through at least mid-February when the repair campaigns started in earnest, according to Bloomberg. "The value of all GM-branded vehicles has diminished as a result of the widespread publication of those defects and New GM's corporate culture of ignoring and concealing safety defects," says the legal complaint, according to Bloomberg.

The attorneys might have an uphill battle to fight to win the case against the company, though. In regards to the earlier case in California, an analysis into GM's recalls found that they had no effect on resale value. Another study discovered basically the same thing when looking at other major repair campaigns, as well. Also, Kenneth Feinberg, the man in charge of the automaker's compensation fund, has refused lost value claims, at least against the Cobalt. Feinberg has already paid out 27 cases alleging deaths from the faulty ignition switches with at least 151 more to evaluate.

The automaker is also facing another, smaller lawsuit focused on just ignition-switch-related claims. Since this falls under the so-called Old GM, a bankruptcy judge has to rule whether the case can move forward. The decision is expected sometime next year, according to Bloomberg. The company would like the claims to be invalidated.

GM's latest official tally puts the company at 74 recalls in 2014 covering roughly 26,495,070 vehicles in the US.GM hit with $10B lawsuit for losses on 27M recalled cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Oct 2014 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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