Toyota shareholders headed to court over fallen stock prices

Unhappy Toyota shareholders are heading to court with lawsuits claiming that the company executives deliberately misled investors and its customers about the seriousness and depth of accelerator problems in over 8.1 million of its vehicles.

About three proposed class-action lawsuits have been filed by investors say that the company gave false assurances that the unintended acceleration problem was a simple floor mat accessory recall, helping keep its stock price up. Investors say that the Japanese automakers executives provided misleading information through press releases and conference calls with stock analysts.

The lawsuits say that many top executives in Toyota have been aware for nearly a decade of faulty electronic throttle issues causing its vehicles to go wildly out of control but covered it up to protect the company’s reputation.

The cases filed by shareholders are just a part of many costly lawsuits coming towards Toyota over acceleration issues.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: MSNBC