Automotive

A class action against ANZ over alleged predatory lending practices has settled for $85 million, while two related cases against Westpac and Macquarie are set to go to trial this month.  

A disputes partner has departed Gilbert + Tobin, taking with him two high-stakes class actions against Toyota and Jaguar over alleged diesel filter defects and the firm says it will not focus on bringing more class actions.

Hyundai and Kia have been ordered to produce further documents to allow a class action to investigate the nature and extent of alleged engine defects, with a judge rejecting the car makers’ bid to produce only a sample set of documents.

A judge has criticised the pleadings in class actions against ANZ, Macquarie and Westpac over flexible commission schemes for car dealers, saying they were “inappropriate and unhelpful” in referring to documents in the banking royal commission. 

Isuzu is the latest car maker to be stung with a class action for allegedly using defeat devices to cheat on emissions tests, and many more car makers may find themselves in the crosshairs over the “common practice”.

General Motors has failed to overturn a decision that put it on the hook for the applicant’s full costs in a partial settlement in a class action on behalf of Holden dealers, with an appeals court finding GM could not “walk away” from the ordinary meaning of the phrase ‘the plaintiff’s costs of the proceedings’.

A personal injury firm that lost out to a class action heavyweight in a contest to run a case against Toyota unit Hino has dropped its appeal and will wear the costs it incurred in bringing its case.

Two Gosford-based smash repair businesses have won an appeal in a dispute with AMA Group over the earn out amount the ASX-list company owed under an October 2018 agreement to purchase the companies for $4.8 million.

An appeals court has questioned General Motors’ construction of its settlement with the applicant in a class action on behalf of Holden dealers, as the car maker seeks to overturn a ruling that put it on the hook for the applicant’s full costs.

A judge has rejected a law firm’s attempt to update its bid to run class actions against Hyundai and Kia, saying the changes were intended to net the firm a competitive advantage in an upcoming fight for carriage of the class actions and different in substance from its previous position.