The car maker that was slammed with a nearly $1 billion verdict last month in a case over an allegedly dangerously designed seatbelt says improper jury instructions and inflammatory statements from the plaintiffs counsel necessitate a new trial in the case.

Mitsubishi Motors filed a post-trial motion late last week in Amagasu v. Fred Beans Family of Dealerships, which resulted in a $976 million verdict that a Philadelphia jury handed up on Oct. 30.