Appellate Court Overturns Jury Verdict Against Suzuki

2 June 1999

Appellate Court Overturns Jury Verdict Against Suzuki; Trial Court Should Have Allowed Jury to Consider Federal Agency's Criticisms of Consumers Union Testing

    BREA, Calif.--June 1, 1999--American Suzuki Motor Corp. Tuesday expressed satisfaction with a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court overturning a jury verdict in a case alleging that the Suzuki Samurai is prone to roll over.
    In Rodriguez v. Suzuki Motor Corporation, the court ruled that the judge overseeing the trial of the case had committed errors requiring a new trial. Those errors included a key ruling that prevented Suzuki from presenting to the jury the reasons why a federal safety agency -- the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") -- had criticized the tests used by Consumers Union ("CU") and its magazine, Consumers Reports, as a basis for evaluating the Samurai's stability. As the court noted, NHTSA ruled as early as 1988 that CU's tests "did 'not have a scientific basis and cannot be linked to real-world crash avoidance needs, or actual crash data.'"
    Responding to today's ruling, Suzuki's managing counsel, George Ball, stated: "Suzuki is gratified that the Missouri Supreme Court has granted a new trial in which we will have a fair opportunity to rebut CU's testing, which was relied upon by the plaintiff's attorneys in criticizing the Samurai. We have always believed that CU's criticisms of the Samurai were unfounded and unfair, and that those criticisms have led directly to lawsuits such as the Rodriguez case. Today's ruling means that Suzuki will be able to explain to the jury exactly why the federal government has found CU's testing methods invalid, not only in 1988, but again in 1997. We intend to continue our vigorous defense of the Samurai in every available forum."
    Today's decision is the second time the Missouri Supreme Court has overturned a jury verdict in the Rodriguez case. In December 1996, the court overturned a verdict against Suzuki on the ground that the trial judge had improperly prevented Suzuki from presenting evidence that the driver of the Samurai had been drinking shortly before the accident. The case was tried a second time in October 1997, resulting in another verdict for the plaintiff. The case will now be tried a third time in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis.