The Canter FE125 used Daimler Commercial Truck's BlueTec emissions technology to comply with EPA 2010 diesel emissions standards.  File Photo

The Canter FE125 used Daimler Commercial Truck's BlueTec emissions technology to comply with EPA 2010 diesel emissions standards. File Photo

A judge has allowed a class action against Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America to continue after the truck maker made motions to dismiss the case involving BlueTec emissions control technology.

Mitsubishi Fuso moved to dismiss all five counts brought against it. However, after reviewing the arguments, the judge ruled three out of the five could continue. The manufacturer also moved to strike the class allegations, which were also denied.

Grocery chain Q Plus Food LLC claims that the engines in Mitsubishi’s 2012 FE125 truck were defective due to a faulty emissions control system. The BlueTec ECU was designed to reduce emissions in the trucks to keep the engines in compliance with the EPA’s 2010 emissions standards using selective catalytic reduction technology.

The ECU software caused the engines to shut down without any apparent reason, according to the lawsuit. The software allegedly issued shutdown commands requiring immediate maintenance, which took the trucks out of service.

The trucks were purchased in 2011 and were covered under a five-year emission control system warranty. According to court documents, the owner of the truck brought it in on 13 different occasions in the first three years, placing the truck out-of-service for at least 250 days of the 790 days it was owned.

Q Plus Food alleges that it received an email from Mitsubishi’s product support manager in 2014 explaining that no further assistance would be provided for the problem. Because of this, the grocery company alleged that the warranty had failed its essential purpose.

The case was originally brought before the New Jersey court claiming that Mitsubishi was in violation of New Jersey’s Fraud Act and Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices act as well as other claims of a breach of warranty, good faith and declaratory relief.

A spokesperson for Mitsubishi Fuso said the company's policy was not to comment on pending litigation.

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Steven Martinez

Steven Martinez

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Steven is the web editor for TruckingInfo.com.

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