Toyota Facing $2 Billion in Losses Connected to Recalls
As the Toyota disaster continues to unfold, attorneys now say
that lost sales, image damage and payout from all the lawsuits over the recalls will end up costing the company around $2 billion. Shareholders are not happy.
People who purchased Toyota vehicles in the U.S. have filed at least 41 class action suits against Toyota, seeking damages that range from loss of car value to a return of profits. Toyota faces at least 13 individual lawsuits claiming deaths or injuries caused by unwanted acceleration of vehicles. Customer lawyers said they're considering filing dozens more.
In similar class actions against carmakers, some customers settled claims by taking discount coupons for future purchases, most of which were never used. Toyota customers will demand cash, said attorney Michael Louis Kelly, who has filed two such suits in California. The Kelley Blue Book, the used-auto pricing service used as a guide in private-party transactions, reported last week that values of Toyota vehicles had already suffered a loss of up to 3 percent of resale value.
"The damages could be in the billions of dollars in the loss of value alone," Kelly said in an interview. "I don't think we’re talking about coupons under any circumstances."
Recent reports say the recalls of 2010 Priuses are being extended to include earlier models that also have braking problems.
