RSSYamaha Motor Corporation, Ltd. v. Superior Court, (4th District, May 26, 2009) —Cal.Rptr.3d—-, 2009 WL 1458270, 09 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6433
A boy who was injured while operating a Yamaha Rhino filed a products liability action against Yamaha Motor Company, Ltd. (Yamaha-Japan), the Japanese entity which manufactured the vehicle, as well as Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (Yamaha-America), its wholly owned domestic subsidiary and exclusive importer and distributor in the United States. When the plaintiff attempted to serve Yamaha-Japan by serving Yamaha-America through its agent for service of process, Yamaha-Japan filed a motion to quash service, arguing that Yamaha-America is only a subsidiary of Yamaha-Japan, not Yamaha-Japan’s general manager in California, and therefore service should have been made through the Hague Convention.
The trial court denied the motion, reasoning that Yamaha-America is Yamaha-Japan’s general manager in California. Yamaha-Japan filed a petition for writ of mandate but the court of appeal denied the writ, holding that California law allows service on a foreign corporation by serving its domestic subsidiary:
Los Angeles