Does the statute of limitations apply when an amended complaint adds a new defendant?

This rule is stricter if the amended complaint adds a new defendant. "As a general rule, 'an amended complaint that adds a new defendant does not relate back to the date of filing the original complaint[,] and the statute of limitations is applied as of the date the amended complaint is filed, not the date the original complaint is filed.' (Woo v. Superior Court (1999) 75 Cal.App.4th 169, 176, italics added.)" (Hawkins v. Pacific Coast Bldg. Products, Inc. (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 1497, 1503.) An exception to this rule applies when a new defendant is substituted under Code of Civil Procedure section 474 "for a fictitious Doe defendant named in the original complaint as to whom a cause of action was stated in the original complaint." (Woo, at p. 176.)