That case has already been brought, and was settled, year ago, in the US.  I
was Ford who sued the various gasket manufacture over bad gaskets.   It was
settled our of court with the insurance companies of the gasket manufactures
picking up 80% of the cost and Ford and the other vehicle manufactures the
balance.  Teh settlement was for all vehicle manufactures.  The problem was
not a design problem it stemmed from the federal governments banning of
asbestoses without giving the gasket manufactures time to develop suitable
replacement materials.

The gasket problem reminds one of the paint problems back then that was a
result of similar government regulation on pants and paint process that did
not give the vehicle and paint manufactures time to develop new more
environmentally  friendly paint and process that led to paints that
literally fell of the vehicles.  In that instance the vehicle manufactures
that painted their vehicles in the US suffered all of the costs an the bad
PR.  Ford was not going to get stuck again with the blame for deficiencies
in gaskets, although many still blame the vehicle manufacture for the
problem, not the people in government that acted so stupidly.

As a side note, the gasket manufactures at first denied responsibility.
They claimed it was owner neglect, much as Toyota did when their 'gelling'
problem first occurred and before they attributed to a new head design.  The
gasket manufactures  point was, a leaking gasket should have been discover
during routine maintenance by the owner and replaced long before any
significant damage would have occurred to the engine.  They simply wanted to
offer the vehicle manufactures gasket with their newer less problematic
materials, that they were now making.  That was one reason they got off with
only 80% of the cost

mike hunt