Isuzu Trial of Lawsuit Against Consumer Reports Begins

10 February 2000

Isuzu Trial of Lawsuit Against Consumer Reports Begins; Automaker Completes Three-Year Challenge to Bring Defamation Suit to Trial

    LOS ANGELES--Feb. 9, 2000--Isuzu Motors Limited (Isuzu) began trial of its lawsuit against Consumers Union of the United States Inc. (CU) in U.S. District Court here today.
    The automaker's claims for defamation and product disparagement arise from what Isuzu claims are CU's false statements about the 1995-96 Isuzu Trooper sport-utility vehicle.
    Isuzu will demonstrate to the jury that in its publications (Consumer Reports magazine), on its Web site, at news conferences and in many other statements, CU stated the Trooper was "uniquely dangerous" and more prone to tip up or roll over than comparable SUVs. During the trial, Isuzu plans to demonstrate that CU's own internal documents establish that CU knew its many statements about the Trooper were false. Isuzu claims that CU also knew that its driving "tests" were unscientific and subject to wide driver-dependent variations.
    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigators earlier denied CU's petition to recall the Trooper from the U.S. market and found CU's short-course avoidance maneuver to be deficient.
    This lawsuit seeks to restore Isuzu's 90-year reputation as a manufacturer of safe vehicles and to vindicate the Trooper, the company's flagship model. It will no doubt surprise jurors, media and the public to learn the facts of this case. For example, when CU attacked the Trooper in 1996, Isuzu says that CU knew that real-world accident data showed that -- unlike all other SUVs then on the road -- the Trooper had no fatal rollover accidents.

    First Amendment Protections Not at Risk

    Isuzu's lawsuit is not an attack on the First Amendment. A verdict against CU's conduct in this lawsuit poses no threat to media rights. Isuzu plans to show during trial that CU's publications concerning Isuzu and the Trooper are false and Isuzu states that CU published these statements with actual malice. Every U.S. court, including the United States Supreme Court, has repeatedly held that false statements made with actual malice are not protected by the First Amendment.
    In denying CU's earlier motion to have Isuzu's lawsuit dismissed, U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Paez ruled that Isuzu's claims in this case have sufficient basis and merit to warrant a full trial. The jury has been impaneled, and proceedings began today.