General Motors Co. argued in front of a New York bankruptcy court that the car company should not have to face design defect lawsuits concerning cars built and sold before the company’s 2009 bankruptcy.

Many of these GM defect recall lawsuits similarly allege that countless GM vehicles contain defects, including the deadly ignition switch defect, which significantly lower those vehicles’ resale values.

GM argued earlier this month that the 2009 bankruptcy deal had specific clauses separating liabilities between “Old GM” and “New GM.” The car maker’s argument is targeted at 130 GM vehicle defect lawsuits, consolidated into one multidistrict litigation (MDL) in New York federal court, which seek to compensate owners of allegedly defective GM cars for the decreased value of their cars in the wake of the various GM recalls.

The plaintiffs of the this GM recall MDL allege that had they known the terms of the GM bankruptcy agreement, they would have objected to the sale of Old GM. In response, New GM claims that the MDL plaintiffs have not produced any new arguments that were not already brought forth by previous objectors that would have changed the outcome of the bankruptcy sale.

According to the GM recall MDL, “Plaintiffs essentially concede that the sale order and injunction would bar many of their claims. Nevertheless, they allege, without merit, that the sale order and injunction should not be binding on them because Old GM deprived them of ‘proper’ notice of the sale hearing,” the American automaker claims.

Last month,  the plaintiffs of this consolidated class action lawsuit, along with another similar lawsuit, filed another lawsuit against GM. This lawsuit seeks $10 billion, claiming the various defects caused the value of over 27 million GM vehicles to drop.

These cases consolidated under the larger GM recall MDL allege that GM violated state consumer protection laws, breached implied warranties, committed fraudulent concealment, unjust enrichment, along with a host of other claims involving over 60 vehicle recalls.

One of the consolidated GM recall class action lawsuits is seeking damages for a Class that would include used car dealers and consumers who owned or leased a GM vehicle between the Class Period of July 11, 2009 and July 3 of this year. The other consolidated GM recall class action lawsuit seeks to claim damages for owners and lessors of GM vehicles from before the bankruptcy of Old GM.

The GM Recall MDL is In re: Motors Liquidation Co. et al., Case No. 1:09-bk-50026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

GM Ignition Switch Recall

According to the numerous GM lawsuits filed this year, many consumers are alleging they or a loved one were killed or injured as a direct result of a GM ignition switch defect or another GM vehicle defect.

The various lawsuits consolidated under the GM recall MDL allege the ignition switch design defect causes a GM vehicle’s ignition switch to move from the on to off position without warning. Should this occur while driving, the design defect causes the car to become difficult and dangerous to maneuver and disables safety features, like airbags, leaving drivers and passengers at risk.

The recalled vehicles found to have the alleged ignition switch failure and are covered by GM compensation fund include:

• Chevrolet Cobalt, 2005-2010
• Chevrolet HHR, 2006-2011
• Pontiac Pursuit, 2003-2007
• Pontiac Solstice, 2006-2010
• Pontiac G5, 2007-2010
• Saturn Ion, 2003-2007
• Saturn Sky, 2007-2010
• Opel/Vauxhall GT, 2007-2010
• Daiwoo G2X, 2007-2009

Many individuals have already filed GM ignition switch defect lawsuits or have joined together with other consumers and filed ignition switch defect class action lawsuits.