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Report: Daimler to resume French sales per court ruling

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal, Safety, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury

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France’s highest administrative court said yesterday that authorities must resume registering Daimler vehicles, which were formally banned in late July, Automotive News reports, even though they are still equipped with R134a air-conditioning refrigerant.

The refrigerant is illegal in the European Union and is the reason for this legal battle, which has restricted the registration of Mercedes-Benz A-, B-, CLA- and SL-Class vehicles in France. But it turns out that the French government’s use of an EU “safeguard” provision to ban registration of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles, which allows countries to block sales of vehicles that would “seriously harm the environment,” wasn’t justified. Why? Because the use of R134a doesn’t appear to be an immediate danger to the environment, the Paris-based court said.

The new chemical, R1234yf, was made the EU’s standard for a/c systems because it emits fewer greenhouse gases into the environment. Daimler says it continues to use R134a because it found R1234yf to be flammable in testing. The German automaker also argues that approval of the use of R134a by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) should be good enough permission for it to sell cars in Europe.

The current state of the situation prompted Daimler to say it expects French authorities to start registering its vehicles tomorrow.

Daimler to resume French sales per court ruling originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Court ruling to delay Fiat’s Chrysler buyout?

Filed under: Government/Legal, Fiat

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We’ve already reported on the attempts of Fiat to purchase the remaining 41.5-percent stake in Chrysler, currently owned by the United Auto Workers’ VEBA healthcare trust. And while the issues still aren’t resolved, Fiat has received both a bit of good news and a bit of bad news from a Delaware judge.

The good news is that the court ruled in favor on two key arguments of Fiat’s, relating to what is a fair price for the Chrysler shares. The rulings essentially slash half a billion dollars off the price of the 54,000 shares owned by VEBA, according to a report from Reuters.

The bad news is that this makes the UAW an even more difficult opponent in negotiations. Its VEBA fund is meant to cover ever escalating retiree healthcare costs, so naturally, the UAW wants to get as much money as possible. Losing a big chunk of cash isn’t likely to make the union more cooperative.

In the end, it looks like it’s going to come down to one of two options. The rulings could encourage the two to settle matters out of court, which would likely be the fastest and most beneficial for all parties involved. The alternative is a 12- to 18-month trial, in which Fiat needs to prove that its offering for the VEBA shares is fair, while the UAW needs to convince the court that it requires a certain degree of funds to cover its healthcare obligations. We’ll keep you updated.

Court ruling to delay Fiat’s Chrysler buyout? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Judge’s ruling paves way for owners to sue Toyota over economic losses *UPDATE

Filed under: Government/Legal, Toyota

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If Toyota was hoping to end its ongoing unintended acceleration-related legal issues, the latest bit of courtroom news will make the automaker quite unhappy. U.S. District Judge James Selna has ruled that vehicle owners can sue Toyota over economic losses. Some Toyota owners claim the automaker is responsible for diminished resale value of vehicles wearing the Toyota badge.

“A vehicle with a defect is worth less than one without a defect,” said Selna.

Toyota, however, has stated that it remains confident it will emerge from the courtroom victorious. Selna’s ruling moves the burden of proof over to the plaintiff’s lawyers, and Toyota believes that no such proof of wrong-doing on its part exists. Lawyers for the plaintiffs will be tasked with proving that the automaker was aware of a defect and chose to ignore it.

One particular issue from Toyota’s point of view, with regards to James Selna’s ruling, is the judge has applied a California law to the case. One that may make it easier for plaintiffs to recover damages. Toyota argues that vehicle owners from all over the country are involved in the lawsuit, and therefore local state laws should be applied with respect to the owner’s location. Either way, it appears that Toyota’s legal drama is going to continue for quite some time.

*UPDATE: Toyota reached out to Autoblog.com for clarification. It appears the ruling has not yet come down, but that Selna is merely considering the application of California law to a case that reaches across the entire country.

Judge’s ruling paves way for owners to sue Toyota over economic losses *UPDATE originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 May 2011 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Preliminary round ruling against Toyota says safety evidence was hidden

Filed under: Government/Legal, Toyota

Toyota Toyota has run into some trouble in a lawsuit against a former employee. An independent arbitrator has found that the automaker can’t bar the release of certain documents by claiming attorney-client privilege in a countersuit by Dimitrios Biller.

Biller served as legal counsel to Toyota for four years from 2003 until 2007. When he resigned from the company, he was given a $3.7 million severance package, but last year was sued by Toyota for $33.5 million for taking internal documents and breaking the terms of his deal.

Biller turned around and countersued, and Toyota immediately attempted to use attorney-client privilege to keep Biller from releasing potentially incriminating documents. But on September 9, a retired federal judge found that Biller has enough evidence to show that Toyota hired a lawyer to hide or destroy some of the company’s safety records in an attempt to keep that information from vehicle owners injured in rollover accidents. In some cases, that information could have led to significantly higher settlements.

That lawyer was none other than Biller himself, who turned over 170 documents, including emails he sent that advised the company that settling cases early would be worth not having to turn over “books of knowledge” on the Toyota vehicle safety record.

[Source: Automotive News]

Report: Preliminary round ruling against Toyota says safety evidence was hidden originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: BMW not ruling out X4M

Filed under: SUV, Crossover, Hatchback, BMW, Land Rover, Rumormill, Luxury

The automotive landscape must be stacked to the sky with kindling right now. It seems like it takes little more than a spark of interest in one odd duckling of a model to create a wildfire of a new segment. From the monsoon of crossovers currently drowning our fair nation’s freeways to weird hatch/crossover/sedan creations like the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo and Honda Accord Crosstour, market segmentation is all the rage right now, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be slowing up anytime soon.

According to Autocar, Land Rover may have started something with its ~~LRX~~ Evoque. The site claims that BMW may be looking to broaden its X lineup with the addition of an X4 – which would predictably fall just above the X3 and below the X5 – to do battle with the new low-riding Land Rover. Odds are that where Land Rover and BMW trod, others soon will follow. Autocar even goes on to say that an X4 would make it easy for the company to roll out an X4 M, complete with a 350-horsepower 3.0-liter twin-turbo I6 borrowed from the upcoming 1 Series M Coupe. Yes, it would probably sell like hotcakes, even if we can see no reason to blast the X stable into ever finer divisions.

Report: BMW not ruling out X4M originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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