CASE CAPTION: In re: ZF-TRW Airbag Control Units Products Liability Litigation
COURT: United States District Court for the Central District of California
COURT NUMBER: 2:19-ml-02905
JUDGE: Honorable John A. Kronstadt
PLAINTIFFS: Mark Altier, Burton Reckles, Gary Samouris, and Amanda Swanson
DEFENDANT: Supplier Defendants: ZF Active Safety and Electronics US LLC; ZF Passive Safety Systems US Inc.; ZF Automotive US Inc.; ZF TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.; ZF Friedrichshafen AG; STMicroelectronics, Inc.; STMicroelectronics, S.r.l.; STMicroelectronics SDN BHD; and Hyundai MOBIS Co. Ltd.
Vehicle Manufacturers: Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd.; Hyundai Motor America, Inc.; Kia Corp.; Kia America, Inc.; FCA US LLC; Toyota Motor North America Inc.; Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.; Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.; Honda Motor Co. Ltd.; American Honda Motor Co., Inc.; Honda Development and Manufacturing of America, LLC; Mitsubishi Motors Corporation; and Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
CLASS PERIOD: 2009-2019
This class action arises out of Defendants’ failure to disclose a deadly defect with the passenger safety system in millions of vehicles purchased or leased in the United States. Plaintiffs allege that because of this defect, the airbags and seatbelts in more than 15 million vehicles may fail to activate during a collision.
Defendants include ZF TRW, the manufacturer of the airbag control units, or “ACUs,” installed in the vehicles. When working properly, ACUs receive and interpret signals from crash sensors and command the safety system to deploy airbags and tighten seatbelts when the sensors detect an imminent crash. When the ACU fails, the airbags and seatbelts also fail. Defendant ST Micro makes a specialized microchip called the DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”), a component part of the ACU that processes the signal from the crash sensors and activates the airbags and seatbelts. Defendants also include FCA, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota, the manufacturers of the vehicles containing the allegedly defective ACUs.
Plaintiffs allege that in manufacturing and installing these ACUs with defective ASICs in the class vehicles, Defendants flouted basic duties under federal law, such as proper labeling inside the vehicles, as well as the timely disclosure of the defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) and to the owners, purchasers, and dealers of the vehicles. Collectively, NHTSA and the manufacturer Defendants have linked multiple airbag and/or seatbelt failures in crashes to ZF TRW ACUs with defective ASICs, including at least eight known deaths.
Defendants’ motions to dismiss the consolidated complaint were denied in large measure. Plaintiffs filed an amended consolidated class action complaint on May 26, 2022. Certain motions to dismiss that complaint remain pending. The parties are now engaged in discovery, including document production and depositions.
In 2023, the Court granted final approval to a settlement Plaintiffs reached with the Toyota Defendants for $78.5 million in cash and credits in addition to an extended warranty and certain other benefits, The Court has also preliminarily approved a settlement in the amount of $8.5 million with the Mitsubishi Defendants. Litigation with respect to all remaining defendants remains ongoing.