Class-Action Suit Over Suzuki Samurais Is Struck Down

The California Court of Appeal has struck down a class-action lawsuit claiming that up to 45,000 Suzuki Samurai owners in the state were entitled to $2,000 each to correct alleged design defects.

In a lawsuit originally filed in 1989, plaintiff Deidre Carney of San Francisco contends she was unfairly charged $2,000, the amount she says was needed to make her Samurai safe from rollover problems.

A Los Angeles Superior Court ruled in November that the outcome of the Carney lawsuit against American Suzuki Motor Corp. of Brea could apply to all 45,000 California Samurai owners. American Suzuki is a subsidiary of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Co.

But the appellate court said the evidence in the case “demonstrated that only a small percentage of the Samurais sold during the class period have been involved in rollover accidents. The Samurais . . . did what they were supposed to do for as long as they were supposed to do it.”

Terry Keelan, the plaintiff’s attorney, plans to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.

The “decision sends a frightening message that putting safe cars on the market is secondary to auto manufacturer profitability,” Keelan said.

Suzuki officials contend that most of the rollover accidents and injuries have involved occupants who were not wearing safety belts or drivers who had consumed alcohol.

Suzuki, which no longer sells Samurai vehicles in the state because they do not meet California emission standards, plans to discontinue selling the model in the United States altogether by the end of the year, according to company officials.