Honda Adds Funds to Settlement of Lawsuits

Honda Motor Co. agreed to add $60 million to a $316-million settlement of lawsuits by dealers who contend Japan’s No. 2 car maker shipped them fewer cars because they refused to pay kickbacks to Honda executives, lawyers familiar with the agreement say. Honda is willing to sweeten the pot to head off allegations that it hid evidence and tricked dealers into settling for less than they should have, the lawyers said. The extra payment--which still must be approved by a federal judge in Baltimore--is intended to end a case that has embarrassed Honda for more than 10 years. Executives of Honda’s U.S. unit are accused of demanding cars, cash and other gifts in exchange for extra shipments of hot-selling Accords and Preludes in the mid-1980s. U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz approved the $316-million settlement in 1998. It called for more than 1,800 dealers to get cash, auto parts, signs and dealership improvements in exchange for dropping their claims over the kickback arrangement.