The U.S. division of Suzuki has been ordered by a Jackson County, Missouri court to pay one of its official dealers, Jeremy Franklin Suzuki located in Kansas City, the sum of $18.5 million for negative publicity against its business.
Out of the $18.5 million, $15 million are due to punitive damages caused by Suzuki’s action to the dealership, while the remaining $3.5 million are to be paid as compensation to Jeremy Franklin, president of the dealership.
The story goes like this: another Kansas City Suzuki dealer along with Franklin’s own brother, Chad, advertised a “no payments for life” plan for new Suzuki car buyers. As anticipated, their scheme didn’t go as planned so a barrage of lawsuits and negative publicity was inevitable.
Jeremy, who owned his own Suzuki dealership, had no involvement in the promotion. However, his attorneys argued that the negative publicity that stemmed from his brother's case damaged his business as consumers were mistakenly believed that Chad's and Jeremy's separate dealerships were connected.
Jeremy Franklin commented on the court’s verdict: “We see this as a vindication of our commitment to serve our customers and our persistent efforts to grow our business despite all the confusion. We look forward to rebuilding trust in the Suzuki brand name in Kansas City.”
So where does American Suzuki feature in this sibling rivalry? Well, as Jeremy Franklin’s attorney Bill Car explained, it approved and funded some of the “no payments for life” ads: “They should be held responsible for their role in approving their ads and paying for parts of the promotion and not taking steps to stop it.”
Apparently, the jury was convinced by his argument. American Suzuki spokesman Jeff Holland commented that “the company is disappointed” by the verdict and will appeal.
Story source: Automotive News
