Hagens Berman Responds to Toyota's Recall of 2.1 Million Vehicles

SEATTLE--February 24, 2011: Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman and co-lead counsel in the Toyota litigation, issues the following statement in response to Toyota's recent recall of 2.1 million vehicles.

Full statement:

The recent recall of another 2.1 million vehicles in addition to the 14 million recalled globally underscores the basis of our floor-mat defect claim in our case against Toyota. This latest recall stands in sharp contrast to Toyota's repeated declarations that they know where the floor-mat problems existed, and they have already acted to correct them. This is obviously not the case, and this sort of revelation calls into question the veracity and credibility of the other claims the company has made regarding this issue.

This latest recall also substantiates the economic loss claims detailed in our suit. If you ask an average consumer whether a Toyota is worth more or less today, in light of these serial recalls, I would venture to say that the majority will say

Over the years, Toyota has spent millions of dollars in branding itself as building extraordinarily well-designed, safe autos. That brand promise has been seriously eroded, if not irreparably damaged by their handling of these problems. That loss of brand value has a direct economic impact on those who own Toyotas, and those consumers deserve to be compensated for the loss.

About Hagens Berman

Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP represents whistleblowers, investors and consumers in complex litigation. The firm has offices in Boston, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Founded in 1993, HBSS continues to successfully fight for investor rights in large, complex litigation. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com.