In re General Motors Company Securities Litigation

Labaton Keller Sucharow serves as lead counsel in a securities class against General Motors Company (GM or the Company) (NYSE: GM) and certain GM officers (collectively, Defendants).

On January 24, 2024, Labaton Keller Sucharow filed a securities class action lawsuit (the Complaint) on behalf of its client City of Hollywood Police Officers’ Retirement System (Hollywood Police) asserting claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired GM securities between February 10, 2021, and October 26, 2023, inclusive (the Class Period).  The Complaint expanded upon a related action against GM by extending the initial class period of February 2, 2022, to October 26, 2023.

On February 28, 2024, the court consolidated the two actions, appointing Labaton Keller Sucharow as lead counsel and Hollywood Police as lead plaintiff.

GM is a multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.  GM designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts worldwide.  The Company is most known for its four automobile brands, Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick.  Since 2016, GM has been developing technologies to power self-driving automobiles.  By December 2020, GM began testing its self-driving technologies on public roads.  Additionally, GM’s products have been the subject of multiple recalls because of defective airbag components in the Company’s vehicles since at least as early as November 2020, exposing the Company to various lawsuits.  Despite these issues, GM has consistently downplayed safety concerns related to its vehicles’ airbags and the need to record additional warranty accruals for related product recalls.  At the same time, the Company touted its efforts to identify and address perceived defects with its vehicles’ airbag inflators.

The Complaint alleges that Defendants misled investors by (1) downplaying safety concerns with the airbags in GM vehicles; (2) failing to disclose the need to record additional warranty accruals for recalls related to the defective airbags; (3) overstating the extent and efficacy of its efforts to analyze defects in its vehicles’ airbag inflators; (4) concealing serious safety and consumer protection issues raised by GM’s autonomous vehicle technology from regulators and investors; (5) overstating the prospect for widespread regulatory approval and adoption of GM’s autonomous vehicles; and (6) withholding from investors the true scope of the increased risk of regulatory scrutiny and enforcement action, significant legal liabilities, product recalls, and reputational harm.

The truth emerged through a series of disclosures in October 2023.  First, news outlets reported that a pedestrian in San Francisco had suffered major injuries after she was run over by and pinned beneath a driverless GM car.  Second, news outlets reported that at least 20 million of GM’s vehicles were built with the defective airbag inflators.  Third, regulators suspended GM’s driverless testing permits, citing “an unreasonable risk to public safety.”  Finally, federal officials said they were investigating five additional reports of GM self-driving cars engaging in inappropriately hard braking that resulted in collisions and GM suspended all of its autonomous vehicle operations nationwide.

The consolidated case is In re General Motors Company Securities Litigation, No. 4:23-cv-13132-SDK-EAS (E.D. Mich.).