Elon Musk, Tesla, is suing two former customers for defamation. 's electric vehicle company
Tesla's reputation in China has not been the best in the past year. Local media has focused on a number of Tesla vehicles catching fire, accidents involving the Autopilot system , and a woman's protest against Tesla at the Shanghai Motor Show.
See also: Tesla: Police sue over accident caused by Model X with Autopilot
In order to address the situation, Tesla began hiring more public relations managers, but now it appears the company is taking a more aggressive approach, suing former customers for defamation.
According to a new report from the South China Morning Post, Tesla is suing Han Chao, a former Tesla vehicle owner, for defaming the company through posts he made on social media.
Han Chao himself made the lawsuit public, where it appeared that his previous posts describing Tesla as a "scam company", "rubbish Tesla", etc.
Tesla wrote in the complaint:
“Han spread his views through a series of online and offline actions … leading the public to have a negative impression of Tesla, causing damage to the company’s reputation.”
Han's issues with Tesla began when he purchased a used Tesla Model S directly from the company in May 2019.
Tesla had told the customer that the car had “no major accidents, no significant damage.”
See also: Tesla drivers become "careless" when using autopilot
A few months later, the vehicle broke down while Han was driving. The customer wanted a new car, but Tesla offered to replace the malfunctioning parts.
Han had the car checked by another technician (not Tesla), who found evidence that the entire C-pillar had been replaced, contradicting Tesla's previous statement about the absence of damage.
The customer decided to sue Tesla. The court ruled in his favor and he won compensation of 1 million yuan (about $155,000).
After that, Han continued to make comments on social media and share his negative experience with the company. For this reason, Tesla decided to sue him for defamation.
See also: Tesla: Aims to release an electric car without a steering wheel
Tesla is seeking up to 5.05 million yuan (about 650,000 US dollars) for defamation and is demanding an apology.
The automaker is also said to have sued Zhang Yazhou , the daughter of a Tesla owner who was involved in an accident , for the same reason . Zhang accused Tesla of:
Zhang has held several protests against Tesla, the most famous took place at the Shanghai Auto Show.
In this case, Tesla is suing Zhang for defamation, after she herself sued Tesla for defamation. After Zhang Yazhou protested at the Shanghai Auto Show, Tesla stated its own side of the issue and then received a lawsuit from Yazhou.
Yazhou requested compensation of 50,000 yuan (about 7,700 US dollars).
In its own lawsuit, Tesla is seeking up to 5.05 million yuan (about 650,000 US dollars), as it did with Han.
Source: Electrek
