Rix v. General Motors Corp.
Montana Supreme Court
723 P.2d 195 (Mont. 1986)
Michael Rix (plaintiff) was rear-ended by a GMC truck with a defective brake tube; GMC (defendant) admitted the tube was defective but claimed the defect resulted from later alterations, not the original manufacture. Rix sued on both a manufacturing-defect theory and a design-defect theory, arguing GMC should have installed a dual-braking system. The jury instructions required Rix to prove the truck reached the user 'without substantial change,' and the jury found for GMC; Rix appealed, challenging those instructions.
Whether someone who manufactures and sells a product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the consumer is strictly liable under a manufacturing-defect theory when (1) the seller is in the business of selling that type of product and (2) the product reaches the consumer without substantial change in condition.