A Tesla car owner who protested against the company during the Auto Shanghai show in early 2021 has been forced to apologize for damaging the US car company’s reputation by alleging that Tesla sold defective cars, Chinese media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The verdict marks the latest victory for Tesla in China after it faced mounting numbers of car owner complaints over various quality issues including unintended acceleration and brake failure in the past two years.
- Among infamous cases are the woman who climbed onto the top of one of Tesla’s electric vehicles at the Auto Shanghai show in April 2021, and an accident resulting in two deaths and three injuries in southern China last November.
Details: A local court on Nov. 9 ordered a woman surnamed Li from the northwestern city of Xi’an to apologize to Tesla and pay the company RMB 2,000 in damages in addition to bearing the cost of vehicle appraisal totaling RMB 20,000 ($2,800). The public apology should remain on social media platform Weibo for at least 15 days, the court ruled.
- The female owner alleged faulty brakes caused an incident in March 2021 when her China-made Model 3 crashed into a car coming the other way in the capital of Shaanxi province. Tesla has denied the claim.
- Li took part in a protest at the Tesla booth during that year’s Auto Shanghai show when she wore a white T-shirt with the words “brake failure” above a Tesla logo. Another female car owner surnamed Zhang then clambered atop a Tesla to express her anger.
- The Chinese court required a third-party appraiser to conduct systematic inspections of the vehicle after Tesla filed a lawsuit against Li for defamation. The result showed no proof that any mechanical failure had contributed to the accident.
- A company representative confirmed the news to Caixin on Wednesday, saying the automaker was attempting to appeal for higher compensation. It is also suing Zhang for damaging its reputation without taking further steps, as she rejected a third-party investigation of her car.
Context: Tesla in May launched a recall involving over 1.1 million EVs in China following an investigation by Chinese regulators that showed Tesla owners could hit the accelerator pedal rather than the brake by mistake when its regenerative braking system was switched on by default. Beijing said the recall was intended to reduce the chance of accidents.
- The US carmaker shipped 771,171 vehicles from its Shanghai gigafactory during the first ten months of this year, of which 462,355 were for domestic sales, a growth of 37.9% from a year earlier, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association. Retail sales of new energy vehicles in China, mostly battery EVs and plug-in hybrids, increased 34.2% year-on-year to more than 5.9 million units over the same period, the CPCA figures showed.
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