Felix

Plaintiff Laura Felix, as administrator of the estate of Rene Alexander Felix (Felix), appeals from an order quashing service of summons on defendant Bomoro Kommanditgesellschaft (Bomoro), a West German corporation, for lack of personal jurisdiction. We affirm.

In September 1982, Rene Felix (decedent), then 19 years old, was injured in an automobile collision on a section of the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California while riding as a passenger in a 1965 Volkswagen Squareback. This action was subsequently brought against Bomoro, among others, based on an alleged design defect in a door latch assembly which apparently caused decedent to be thrown from the vehicle during the accident. After being served with the complaint, Bomoro appeared specially and moved to quash service of summons on the ground that it lacked the requisite minimum contacts with California to justify the state’s assertion of personal jurisdiction. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 418.10.)

In support of its motion to quash, Bomoro submitted the affidavit of Ernst Nockemann, its former chief engineer and director of development, who had been employed by the company from 1927 to 1973 and presently…