On February 9, 2024, the NAM filed an amicus brief urging the Texas Supreme Court to enforce the state’s statute of repose. In this case, Ford v. Parks, the plaintiff brought a product liability suit against Ford after being injured in an auto accident more than 15 years after he purchased the SUV from a dealership. A Texas trial court properly applied the statute of repose to enter judgment for Ford. That statute requires a plaintiff to “commence a products liability action against a manufacturer or seller of a product before the end of 15 years after the date of the sale of the product by the defendant.” An intermediate appellate court, however, reversed the trial court’s decision, holding that Ford failed to conclusively establish that the plaintiff commenced his action more than 15 years after the “date of sale” because Ford failed to show that it received payment from the dealership on the date that it released the vehicle to the dealership.
We argue in our amicus brief that the “sale” of a product occurs when the product is transferred to the buyer—irrespective of when payment is received—and that a manufacturer need not prove the exact date of sale. We further contend that, if allowed to stand, the appellate court’s decision would disrupt the risk allocation that the Texas Legislature set not only for the auto-manufacturing business, but for all businesses that produce and sell durable goods in Texas.