Takeaways: Tesla has sued Chinese customers and journalists and won almost every time
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FILE -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at a delivery ceremony for Tesla's China-made Model 3 in Shanghai, China in 2020.
Tesla has embraced an aggressive legal strategy in China to stifle its critics suing its own customers.
That's left some Tesla owners desperate.
Zhang Yazhou protested publicly that her Model 3's brakes had failed and caused an accident in 2021 that sent her parents to the hospital.
Tesla said that wasn't true and sued her for defamation.
A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than $23,000 in damages and publicly apologize to the $1.1 trillion company.
Zhang is not the only one to find herself in the crosshairs of Tesla, which is led by Elon Musk, among the richest men in the world and a self-described “ free speech absolutist.”
Over the last four years, Tesla has sued at least six car owners in China who had sudden vehicle malfunctions, quality complaints or accidents they claimed were caused by mechanical failures.
The company has also sued at least six bloggers and two Chinese media outlets that wrote critically about the company, according to a review of public court documents and Chinese media reports by The Associated Press.
Tesla won all 11 cases for which AP could determine the verdicts. Two judgments, including Zhang’s, are on appeal. One case was settled out of court.
It is not common practice for automakers — in China or elsewhere — to sue their customers. But Tesla has pioneered an aggressive legal strategy and leveraged the patronage of powerful leaders in China’s ruling Communist Party to silence critics, reap financial rewards and limit its accountability.
Ref: Takeaways: Tesla has sued Chinese customers and journalists and won almost every time
