Parties Ask to Consolidate Two 3G Telematics Complaints vs. Audi, VW

All the parties in two 3G telematics class actions against Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA), the U.S. distributor of Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen vehicles, want court permission to consolidate their cases for pretrial efficiency, they told U.S. District Judge Esther Salas for New Jersey in Newark in a joint letter Thursday (docket 2:22-cv-05896).

The two cases “assert substantially similar claims" about the sunsetting of 3G cellular connectivity and resulting loss of connected services in certain Volkswagen and Audi vehicles, lawyers for VWGoA and the plaintiffs told the judge. They're among roughly half a dozen class actions in various U.S. jurisdictions that allege some of the major automakers knew well before AT&T’s decision to terminate its 3G wireless service yet did nothing to modernize their in-vehicle telematics equipment and kept car-buying consumers in the dark about it (see 2211070032).

Both class actions pending in the Newark court name a single plaintiff, but the lawyer for both, Lee Squitieri of Squitieri & Fearon, “would like to amend the complaints to include additional named plaintiffs,” said the letter. The named plaintiff in Raposa v. VWGoA (docket 2:22-cv-05896) alleges she's an Audi owner “who purports to assert claims on behalf of Audi and Volkswagen owners,” it said. The named plaintiff in Raffo v. VWGoA (docket 1:22-cv-06230) alleges he's a VW owner “who purports to assert claims on behalf of Volkswagen owners only,” it said.

VWGoA was served with the summonses and complaints in both cases Feb. 7, said the letter. But the other defendants are the German parent companies of Audi and VW, and neither has been “properly served,” it said. Neither of the German entities has an agent for service in the U.S., nor have they waived service of process or consented to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, it said.

The plaintiffs tried to serve each of the German companies through VWGoA’s registered agent in Herndon, Virginia, but the agent notified Squitieri, the plaintiffs’ counsel, that service was improper, and Squitieri agrees, said the letter. He’s now considering dismissing the German defendants voluntarily without prejudice, it said.

Squitieri also is weighing other options, including trying to serve Audi and VW in Germany through diplomatic channels under the Hague Convention, said the letter. Lawyers for seven plaintiffs in an unrelated class action in Chicago that seeks to vacate T-Mobile’s 2020 Sprint buy have been trying unsuccessfully for months to serve T-Mobile’s German parent Deutsche Telekom, clear evidence that service of process through diplomatic channels can be long and drawn out (see 2301200009).

The parties discussed whether the two cases can be consolidated for “pretrial handling,” said the letter. Doing so “may result in some efficiencies” for all involved, it said. VWGoA is “amenable to consolidation,” and the related filing by the plaintiffs of a consolidated amended complaint, “on condition that the consolidation extends only to pretrial handling,” it said. “VWGoA does not consent to a joint trial.” The parties can file a motion to consolidate under Local Rule 42.1 if the court “is amenable to this proposed approach,” said the letter. It asked that the plaintiffs be permitted to file a consolidated amended complaint by March 24, and that VWGoA’s deadline to respond be extended until May 19.