Toyota class action suit to start with Utah case

Toyota welcomes the first suit because it will focus on the alleged technical defects at the heart of the cases.

A federal judge expects the first lawsuit to go to trial in a massive class action against Toyota Motor Corp over a sudden acceleration problem, which led the company to recall 14 million cars following a crash that killed two people in Utah.

US District Judge James Selna told attorneys on Friday that the case of Paul Van Alfen and Charlene Jones Lloyd - whose Toyota Camry slammed into a wall in Wendover, Utah, in 2010 - will go to trial in early 2013.

The case will be the first of several bellwether lawsuits, intended to determine how the rest of the litigation will proceed.

Toyota says it welcomes the first suit because it will focus on what it calls the alleged technical defects at the heart of the cases.