Chevy Cruze Diesel Emissions Class Action Survives Dismissal Bid

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A Michigan federal judge has dismissed breach of contract claims from a class action lawsuit alleging General Motors LLC’s Chevy Cruze vehicles include “defeat devices” designed to evade emissions testing, but has allowed the other claims to proceed.

In July 2016, nine plaintiffs filed a nearly 450-page class action lawsuit asserting claims of deceptive advertising, breach of contract and fraudulent concealment under the laws of 30 states against GM.

The GM class action lawsuit accuses the auto maker of installing a defeat device that allows certain Chevy Cruze vehicles to emit higher levels of pollution during normal use than they emit while being tested in laboratory controlled settings.

According to the GM class action lawsuit, the defeat device has caused buyers of Chevy Cruze vehicles, which were marketed as “Clean Diesel,” to suffer significant damages. The Chevy Cruze Diesel vehicles reportedly cost around $2,000 more than the gasoline version. Many consumers justified the extra cost because they were under the belief that the Chevy Cruze Diesel vehicles were better for the environment.

Further, even if GM is required to alter the affected vehicles to make them compliant with U.S. emissions standards, the performance of the Chevy Cruze vehicles will be downgraded and the vehicle owners will be required to pay more for fuel. The plaintiffs assert that they would not have purchased or leased the Chevy Cruze vehicles had they known of the higher emissions, or they would have paid significantly less for the vehicles.

The plaintiffs seek to represent themselves as well as a Class of other consumers who purchased 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel vehicles.

GM filed a motion to dismiss the Chevy Cruze class action lawsuit in October, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked standing, that the claims are preempted by the Clean Air Act, that deference should be granted to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation of the claims, and that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

Yesterday, a Michigan federal judge found that the plaintiffs had sufficiently argued that they relied on GM’s misleading representations that the 2014 Chevy Cruze was a clean diesel vehicle and that, therefore, they overpaid.

The judge found that economic loss was sufficient to establish standing. The issue of whether the plaintiffs have standing to bring the Chevy Cruze class action lawsuit on behalf of unnamed Class Members is an issue to be addressed in a Class certification motion, the judge said.

The judge also rejected GM’s Clean Air Act preemption and EPA deference arguments. The judge did agree with GM that the plaintiffs’ breach of contract claims should be dismissed, but refused to dismiss the fraudulent concealment and consumer protection claims.

A similar Chevy Cruze clean diesel class action lawsuit was filed in June 2016, but that case was voluntarily dismissed in July.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steve W. Berman and Jessica Thompson of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Jason J. Thompson and Lance C. Young of Sommers Schwartz PC, Christopher A. Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP, Robert C. Hilliard of Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP, and James E. Cecchi of Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello PC.

The Chevy Cruze Diesel Emissions Class Action Lawsuit is Jason Counts, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 1:16-cv-12541, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Northern Division.

UPDATE: On April 20, 2018, a Chevy Cruze diesel emissions class action lawsuit should not be expanded to include federal RICO charges, according to General Motors. GM says that the plaintiffs’ recent revelations that auto parts manufacturer, Robert Bosch LLC, may have also been involved in an alleged wide-spread emissions cheating scandal is an attempt to change the very nature of the case.