New Takata Air Bag Lawsuits Target Chrysler, Daimler, GM and Volkswagen
"These auto manufacturers were well aware of the public safety risks posed by Takata's air bags long ago and still waited years to disclose them to the public and take action," plaintiffs' lead counsel Peter Prieto of Podhurst Orseck said.
March 15, 2018 at 03:10 PM
2 minute read
A slew of new lawsuits in the Miami-based Takata air bag litigation aims to add to the $1.2 billion the plaintiffs have already recovered from automakers.
The plaintiffs steering committee, led by Miami attorney Peter Prieto of Podhurst Orseck, filed class action lawsuits Wednesday against Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors and Volkswagen.
“These auto manufacturers were well aware of the public safety risks posed by Takata's air bags long ago and still waited years to disclose them to the public and take action,” Prieto said in a statement. “The consolidated class action complaints are an important step forward in holding them accountable and ensuring all consumers exposed to these dangerous air bags receive the recourse they deserve.”
The economic loss lawsuits were filed after most of the initial defendants in the litigation settled. U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno in Miami has so far approved a $605 million payment from Honda, $279 million from Toyota, $131 million from BMW, $98 million from Nissan, $76 million from Mazda and $68 million from Subaru. Claims against Ford are still pending.
“These consolidated class action complaints were brought now because these automakers were not part of the original Takata recall, and we were conducting the necessary due diligence to ensure that we had sufficient facts to assert the claims in the complaints,” Prieto said.
A Daimler spokesman called the accusations “unfounded,” and a GM representative said the lawsuit was “baseless and without merit, and misstates a host of material facts.”
A Chrysler spokesman said the company had not yet been served with the lawsuit and could not comment. Volkswagen did not respond to a media inquiry, and its subsidiary Audi, also a defendant, declined to comment.
About 37 million vehicles across the U.S. are currently under recall for defective Takata air bags, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Some air bags were found to explode upon deployment, expelling shrapnel and killing or injuring drivers and passengers.
Takata itself will provide up to $130 million to drivers as part of a bankruptcy settlement reached last month. The company also agreed to a $1 billion criminal plea deal last year before filing for bankruptcy, including a $125 million victims' compensation fund.
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