Lawsuit Accuses Suzuki of Fraud in Samurai Promo
A lawsuit filed Tuesday accused Suzuki Motor Co. of violating federal racketeering laws by fraudulently promoting its sporty Samurai vehicles as safe.
The class-action suit charged that Suzuki and the Los Angeles firms handling the company’s public relations and advertising routinely committed mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to conceal the Samurai’s dangers, violating the federal Racketeering Influenced, Corrupt Organizations Act.
The suit, filed by Dr. Harold Kay of Wynnewood, Pa., on behalf of all Samurai owners not employed by Suzuki, seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages from the defendants.
Suzuki has been defending itself vehemently against a call by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, for a ban of the vehicles on the grounds that they tend to roll over in sudden turns.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, contended that the defendants were “aware the vehicles were not safe but instead were by design and construction dangerous and unsuitable for on- or off-road use and that advertising and other sales representations were false and misleading.”
Called ‘Safe, Stable’
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Suzuki Motor Co. of Japan; U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp., of Brea; Suzuki’s public relations firm, Rogers & Associates of Los Angeles, and Suzuki’s ad firm, Keye/Donna/Pearlstein of Los Angeles.
Laura Segall, a spokeswoman for Suzuki and an employee of Rogers & Associates, would not comment on the suit because she had not seen it.
“The bottom line we’ve said for the last 10 days is that it’s safe and stable,” Segall said Tuesday.
Consumers Union said June 2 that the $8,500 Samurai was the first car out of 349 it had tested in the last decade to roll over during a routine accident-avoidance test, in which cars swerve to avoid a road obstacle.
Suzuki said 300-pound outriggers attached to the trucks to prevent them from rolling over completely during the tests had contributed to the results. The company also partially blamed the driver’s actions for causing the vehicle to tip up on two wheels during the test.
Suzuki says the Samurai was tested thoroughly for safety, stability and handling before it was introduced in the United States in November, 1985. Suzuki sold 154,675 Samurais through April.
The lawsuit cites National Traffic Highway Safety Administration figures indicating that at least 44 Samurai roll-over accidents resulted in at least 53 injuries and 16 deaths.
