Model S Owners Sued for $ 780,000 Libel
Tesla customer sues Tesla, gets right. Now Tesla is suing the customer. (Screenshot: Tesla)
A Chinese Tesla customer sued the company, won the case and then repeatedly expressed bad comments about Tesla on social media. Now Tesla is suing the customer.
Han Chao successfully sued Tesla in a Chinese court. Han was able to claim 155,000 US dollars (1 million yuan) in damages because Tesla had demonstrably withheld from him an accident damage to the rear of his Tesla Model S, which he acquired in 2019.
Han had bought the vehicle from the automaker’s official website. He was assured that the vehicle had “no major accidents” or “structural damage”. When the car broke down after three months and Tesla is said to have shown itself bulky for repairs, Han called on a third-party workshop, and the inspection found cuts and sweat marks in the rear side panels of the vehicle. This made it clear that the Model S must have had an accident.
Han sued and was ultimately right. Tesla was fined $ 155,000. Han took the litigation as an opportunity to poke fun at Tesla on social media. He described the automaker as a “rogue company”, “garbage Tesla” and “quack”.
Tesla does not want to accept that. According to Han, the manufacturer has now filed a lawsuit. Documents published by Han on the Chinese Twitter alternative Weibo show that Tesla is accusing the Chinese of defamation. Tesla is demanding damages of $ 780,000 (around 5 million yuan) for this. Tesla also requests an apology and the removal of Han’s posts on Weibo. That reports Inside EVs.
Right now, it doesn’t look like Han wants to move towards Tesla. On Weibo he writes:
“Are you saying that even though you have to pay me more than 1 million yuan in compensation, even though I am the victim, I can’t say a bad word about you and have to pay 5 million as a price?”
Tesla has so far not commented on the process, even in response to inquiries from various media.
