An Australian law firm has sued General Motors (GM) for alleged defects in vehicles produced by its subsidiary, Holden.
On Jan. 8, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers announced that it had launched a class action against the U.S. automobile giant on behalf of Australian consumers who bought various models of Holden vehicles equipped with GM 6L 45, GM 6L 50 or GM 6L 80 transmissions in the past 13 years.
The law firm alleged that the above transmissions were defective due to a design fault, which resulted in many problems for the vehicles, such as intermittent transmission shudders, excessive vibrations, and harsh gear shifts.
Other issues included leakage of automatic transmission fluid, accelerated degradation of the transmission system components and more demanding servicing requirements.
Maurice Blackburn also alleged that GM did not comply with the Australian Consumer Law and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by manufacturing defective vehicles.
“For most Australians, cars are one of their biggest investments, and consumers are entitled to expect that the cars they buy are free from defects,” Maurice Blackburn’s principal lawyer, Kimi Nishimura, said in a statement.
“Through this class action, we are seeking to recover compensation for those consumers who experienced loss and damage related to the transmission system in the affected vehicles.”
According to the principal lawyer, Australian consumers who purchased, leased, exchanged, or hire-purchased the affected vehicles between Jan. 1, 2011, and Dec. 24, 2024, could be part of the class action.
Consumers can still be members of the class action even if they have already sold their vehicles, had them written off, or have not experienced any problems.
While it is not compulsory for affected consumers to register with the law firm, Nishimura advised them to take the step so that Maurice Blackburn could keep them updated on the progress of the class action.
People who register to be part of the lawsuit are not required to pay any front cost, as Maurice Blackburn and the litigation funder will bear all the incurred expenses.
There are also no costs for the registered consumers in the case of an unsuccessful outcome.
GM’s Response
A GM spokesperson told The Epoch Times that it does not comment on ongoing litigation.“GM stands by its commitment to achieving the best outcomes for Holden customers,” the spokesperson said.
It is not the first time that GM has been sued for alleged faulty transmissions.
It was alleged that GM continued to sell hundreds of thousands of vehicles to consumers despite being aware of the transmission issues.
Due to declining market performance, GM pulled the Holden branch out of Australia in late 2020 and replaced it with GM Specialty Vehicles, which imported Chevrolet vehicles into the Australian market.
Before its departure, Holden sold 43,176 new vehicles in 2019, ranking among the top 10 auto brands of that year.
