Kenneth John Williams & Anor v Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited (ACN 009 686 097) (Toyota Class Action)

On 7 April 2022, we sent you an update regarding an important judgment delivered by the Court in the Toyota Class Action following the initial trial which took place in December 2021.  A copy of that update is accessible here.  As explained in more detail in that update, the Court found overwhelmingly in favour of the applicants and group members on key issues of liability and damages.

On 16 May 2022, the Federal Court of Australia made orders giving effect to the judgment delivered on 7 April 2022.  A copy of the Court’s orders is accessible here.

Court’s orders in respect of damages

Under the Court’s orders, eligible Group Members are entitled to receive:

• an amount of money equal to 17.5% of the average retail price of their vehicle (when new), less any amount by which the average retail price of their vehicle exceeds the price the Group Member paid to acquire the vehicle (“reduction in value damages”);
• an additional amount of money equal to 10% of the amount of the Group Member’s reduction in value damages (“excess GST damages”); and
• interest on the above amounts.

The representative applicant was awarded $18,401.76, which included $7,474.59 for the reduction in value of its Toyota Prado and a further $747.46 for the excess GST it paid to acquire the vehicle.

Next Steps

In June 2022, Group Members will be sent a notice issued by the Federal Court of Australia which will explain how they can register their interest to receive any money to which they are entitled under the judgment.

In response to that notice, Group Members will need to register their interest to receive any money to which they are entitled under the judgment.  It is in Group Members’ interests to register so that their eligibility to receive any money to which they are entitled under the judgment (and the amount of money) may be determined.  Group Members who do not register will not receive money to which they may otherwise be entitled under the judgment.

Toyota may appeal the Court’s judgment.  If Toyota does appeal and is successful, you may lose your entitlement to receive money under the judgment/or the amount of money to which you are entitled may be reduced.  The notice to be issued in June 2022 will indicate whether Toyota has appealed.  Even if Toyota appeals the judgment, the process for working out your entitlements will proceed notwithstanding the appeal.  As such, when you receive that notice in June 2022, it will be in your interests to register your interest to receive money under the judgment regardless of whether Toyota has appealed.  The litigation funder supporting the Toyota class action, Balance Legal Capital, intends to fund the applicants’ defence of any appeal by Toyota.

A case management hearing will be held on 17 June 2022 to determine how issues which still remain to be determined after the Court’s judgment will be resolved.  These issues include the claims of Group Members whose vehicles have received the “2020 Field Fix” and Group Members’ claims for additional damages of the kind awarded to the representative applicant (such as excess stamp duty, excess financing costs and income lost due to Group Members missing work as a result of needing to have the defective DPF systems in their vehicles serviced).

Following submissions by the parties in August 2022, the Court will determine the process by which money is to be distributed to eligible Group Members who register their interest (a process known as a “distribution scheme”).

We will provide a further update when notices are issued to Group Members in June 2022 and following the case management hearing on 17 June 2022.

In the meantime, keep your eye out for a formal notice issued by the Federal Court of Australia in June 2022 inviting you to register your interest.  As noted above, it is in your interests to register in response to this notice so that your eligibility to receive any money to which you are entitled under the judgment (and the amount of money) may be determined.  If you do not register in response to the notice you will receive in June 2022, you will not receive money to which you may otherwise be entitled under the judgment.

Further Information

For more information about the Court’s judgment, please refer to our frequently asked questions here.