GM slapped with $10bn suit for losses on 27m recalls

General Motors was hit with its biggest lawsuit so far over serial recalls, brought on behalf of drivers of 27 million vehicles seeking more than $10bn in compensation for fallen car prices.

The would-be class action against GM seeks to represent owners who bought or leased a recalled car from July 2009 to July 2014 — and still have it, or sold it after mid-February when the recalls started, or had an accident that destroyed it after that date. More than 20 million customers could join the suit, said Steve Berman, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

Detroit-based GM spurred the price drops by hiding at least 60 serious defects in around 27 million vehicles sold in the US, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan against ‘New GM’, as the carmaker became known after its 2009 bankruptcy and government bailout.