Automotive Group Of The Year: Hagens Berman

Being a key player in the record-breaking Volkswagen settlement was just one part of a successful 2016 for Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP’s automotive team, which scored major victories for consumers against big industry players like GM and Ford and cemented its spot as one of Law360’s Automotive Practice Groups of the Year.

The most highly publicized success for Hagens Berman’s automotive practice group came in the form of unprecedented multibillion-dollar settlements with Volkswagen AG related to the automaker’s use of so-called defeat-device software in its diesel vehicles. The firm was responsible for launching the first lawsuits against the automaker related to the scandal and worked closely with other members of the plaintiffs’ steering committee to secure significant relief for diesel car owners. read more »

General Motors Charged With Accounting Control Failures

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that General Motors has agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to settle charges that deficient internal accounting controls prevented the company from properly assessing the potential impact on its financial statements of a defective ignition switch found in some vehicles.

According to the SEC’s order, when loss contingencies such as a potential vehicle recall arise, accounting guidance requires companies like General Motors to assess the likelihood of whether the potential recall will occur, and provide an estimate of the associated loss or range of loss or otherwise provide a statement that such an estimate cannot be made.  The SEC’s order finds that the company’s internal investigation involving the defective ignition switch wasn’t brought to the attention of its accountants until November 2013 even though other General Motors personnel understood in the spring of 2012 that there was a safety issue at hand.  Therefore, during at least an 18-month period, accountants at General Motors did not properly evaluate the likelihood of a recall occurring or the potential losses resulting from a recall of cars with the defective ignition switch. read more » 

Ex-VW CEO Winterkorn Deflects Blame for Emissions Cheating

Martin Winterkorn, the former chief executive officer of Volkswagen AG, sought to deflect blame for the biggest scandal in the carmaker’s history, saying he would have put a stop to the emissions cheating if he’d known.

In his first public appearance since being forced to resign 16 months ago, Winterkorn apologized for breaching the trust of millions of customers while defending his tenure and saying that he wasn’t directly involved in developing software to comply with emissions regulations. read more »

US regulator finds no evidence of defects after Tesla death probe

U.S. regulators has found no evidence of any defects in Tesla electric cars after investigating the death of a man whose Model S collided with a truck while he was using its Autopilot system, the first fatality involving semi-autonomous driving software. read more »

Was your Ford or Honda vehicle recalled? How to check its VIN number

Honda and Ford recalled more than 1.5 million autos last week

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is always on the lookout for safety flaws in US vehicles.

Last week, major auto manufacturers Ford and Honda recalled more than 1.5 million vehicles combined. To check your vehicle's safety, enter its VIN number here. read more »

Only One In Four Americans Trust Autonomous Vehicles Right Now

The auto shows this month may have been nothing short of a driverless-tech wonderland, but carmakers have to participate in trust falls with consumers, or some sort of icebreaker, if they’re serious about bringing about an autonomous revolution: The findings from a new Deloitte study suggest nearly 75 percent of the U.S. doesn’t believe self-driving cars will be safe. read more »