General Motors has been ordered by a federal appeals court to face a civil suit alleging the automaker knowingly sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles with defective transmissions, reports Reuters.
Around 800,000 vehicles are included in the case, including the Cadillac CTS, CT6 and Escalade; Chevrolet Camaro, Colorado, Corvette and Silverado; GMC Canyon, Sierra and Yukon, and more.
These vehicles were equipped with either 8L45 or 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions, and would have been sold in the 2015 through 2019 model years.
The suit accuses GM of breaking laws in 26 different states by knowingly selling vehicles with faulty transmissions, with drivers experiencing shuddering and shaking at higher gears, and abrupt staggering at lower gears.
Additionally, the automaker allegedly told dealers to assure drivers that the symptoms they were experiencing were normal.
GM filed an opposing class certification, in which it argued that most of the drivers in the case did not experience the issues described. However, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Karen Nelson Moore countered that paying for something that could even potentially be defective was enough standing to sue.
The court determined the case may continue, returning it to U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit to move forward.
“We look forward to holding GM accountable before a Michigan jury,” said Ted Leopold, a partner with Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, who is representing the drivers.
