TOKYO, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Kobe Steel Ltd. said Wednesday that it is being sued by two consumers in the United States for potentially using materials in vehicles that did not meet industry requirements.
Kobe Steel also said the class-action civil lawsuit has been filed against Toyota Motor Corp. by the plaintiffs who are looking for compensation.
The plaintiffs claim that they would not have either purchased or leased the vehicles as the potentially affected products' resale value would drop or be negligible if the vehicle were to be resold.
The plaintiffs claim that if they had prior knowledge that substandard metal had possibly been used in the vehicles that did not fulfill legal durability standards, they would not have purchased the vehicles.
According to local media accounts of the law case, the class-action civil lawsuit was filed in California with a federal court.
The lawsuit has been lodged against Kobe Steel, four of its subsidiaries and Toyota.
Kobe Steel has yet to determine if the case will adversely affect its business or if other similar cases will follow.
A company official was quoted by local media as saying a formal complaint and request for a specific amount of compensation has yet to be received.