Toyota, ZF TRW Facing Class Action Over Alleged Concealment of Airbag Control Unit Defect

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According to a proposed class action lawsuit, Toyota and ZF TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. knowingly concealed a defect in certain vehicles’ airbag control units that could cause the component to seize up at the moment of impact and fail to deploy the airbags and lock a car’s seatbeltsfail to deploy the airbags and lock a car’s seatbelts during an accident.

The case out of California’s Central District says the following vehicle models are not only unsafe in the event of a crash, but have been significantly diminished in value due to the alleged non-disclosure of the defect by the defendants:

Toyota and ZF TRW knew of the apparent defect as far back as 2011, the complaint says, when Toyota was already communicating with its co-defendant regarding the problem. After a number of reports of serious injuries and deaths, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation into the airbag control unit defect, which continues through the present. The case says that the NHTSA investigation has linked the airbag control unit to at least four deaths.

To date, Toyota has not issued a recall nor offered proposed class members suitable repairs or replacements, the case says.