Buick produced cars and sold them to dealers. MacPherson bought a new Buick from a dealer inNewYork.

Question:

Buick produced cars and sold them to dealers. MacPherson bought a new Buick from a inNewYork. Thewheels on MacPherson's Buick were made by another company for Buick. Soon after he bought the car, one of the wheels collapsed, causing an accident that injured MacPherson, who sued Buick. His suit against Buick traditionally would have been barred because of lack of privity; that is, Buick sold the car to the who in turn sold it to MacPherson. The had a contract with MacPherson but was not responsible for the defect.
Nevertheless, the lower courts ruled for MacPherson, finding Buick liable in tort for injuries caused by the defect. Buick appealed to the highest court in NewYork.

1. The court held Buick liable in tort for negligence in manufacturing a product with a danger. Buick argued that it should not be liable' because it did not make the wheels. Why not make the injured party sue the producer of the defective part?
2. Buick argued that this was the only wheel out of 60,000 sold that had been shown defective. Should 1/60,000 be sufficient to establish negligence?

Dealer
A dealer in the securities market is an individual or firm who stands ready and willing to buy a security for its own account (at its bid price) or sell from its own account (at its ask price). A dealer seeks to profit from the spread between the...