Court of Justice: supplier may be liable for defective products
The company that makes a product, the manufacturer or producer, is responsible for it. In some cases, a supplier who sells the product to others may also be considered a producer, such as if they use the same brand name. If a defective product damages property or injures a person, both the supplier and the producer can be liable for the consequences, even if the supplier never put their name or brand on the product. This helps protect consumers.
Accident caused by a defective airbag
In July 2001, a consumer purchased a Ford car from Italian Ford dealer Stracciari. The car was made by Ford WAG, a company from Germany, and the car had been delivered to Stracciari by Ford Italia, the supplier of Ford cars in Italy. In December 2001, the consumer was involved in an accident in which the airbag failed to deploy.
Court case in Italy
The consumer decided to sue both the dealer and Ford Italia, claiming compensation for the damage caused by the issue with the car. Ford Italia argued that it was not liable for the defective airbag, since it had not manufactured the car itself and was therefore not the producer.
As the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation was unsure about how to interpret the term ‘manufacturer’ under the EU Product Liability Directive, the court asked the EU Court of Justice whether the vendor of a defective product could be considered a ‘manufacturer’.
Court of Justice ruling
Under EU law, the producer is responsible for the goods they manufacture. According to the Court, a ‘person presenting themselves as the producer’ is not limited to someone whose name is on the product itself, and the supplier may also be a producer if its name, or a recognisable part of it, is the same as:
- the producer's name
- the trademark
- any other distinguishing feature found on the product
In such cases, the supplier is presenting themselves as the party responsible for product quality, ‘giving rise to confidence on the part of that consumer comparable to that which he or she would have if the product had been sold directly by that supplier’s producer’. If a buyer were unable to hold the supplier accountable, the scope of the term ‘producer’ would be reduced, jeopardising consumer protection.
The Court further clarified that EU legislators intended for anyone presenting themselves as a producer to bear the same responsibility as the real producer. In addition, a consumer should be able to choose to seek full compensation from either party, since both are liable. Consumers would be less well protected if a supplier referred them to a producer who they may be unfamiliar with.
Want to know more?
The full ruling C-157/23 | Ford Italia, can be found on the InfoCuria website (Court of Justice case law) CURIA - Documents (europa.eu).