NEW YORK,(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit accusing the automaker Stellantis of defrauding shareholders by failing to disclose how it overloaded retailers with excessive inventory, known as channel stuffing, leading to short-term sales increases and long-term sales declines.
Stellantis, whose many brands include Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot, was accused in the proposed class action of making false and misleading statements about its pricing power, inventory and margins in light of the channel stuffing, inflating its share price.
U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan concluded, however, that shareholders did not demonstrate a strong inference that Stellantis was motivated to defraud them, or offer strong circumstantial evidence of conscious misbehavior or recklessness.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese
