The once sensational "Roof Protection" incident among female car owners at the Tesla Shanghai Auto Show has followed.
On November 22nd, relevant sources from Tesla China told Shanghai Securities News reporters that recently, Tesla sued the "Shanghai Auto Show Incident" for infringement of the reputation rights of female car owners in Xi'an. The court made a first instance judgment, determining that Ms. Li's reputation infringement responsibility in Xi'an was established, and must publicly apologize to Tesla and compensate for the losses, while also bearing the vehicle appraisal fee.
Tesla v. "Shanghai Auto Show Incident" Xi'an Female Car Owner's Name and Reputation Infringement Case Judgment
The female owner of the vehicle in question in Xi'an does not have any braking issues
During the trial of the case, the court entrusted a judicial appraisal agency to conduct an appraisal of the vehicle. The appraisal results showed that the vehicle in question did not have any braking issues and met relevant national technical standards.
According to sources from Tesla China, the defendant, Ms. Li from Xi'an, suffered a traffic accident while driving Tesla in March 2021. On April 19, 2021, Ms. Li from Xi'an and Ms. Zhang from Henan, dressed together in clothing with the words "brake failure", appeared at the Tesla booth and roof protection at the Shanghai Auto Show. On the same day, Ms. Zhang from Henan was administratively detained by the Qingpu Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau for disrupting public order, and Ms. Li from Xi'an was given an administrative warning.
Screenshot of the incident video of Ms. Li in Xi'an provided by Tesla
Pedals on Tesla cars
Tesla and female car owners have had a dispute over "brake failure" for over two years
On April 19, 2021, at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, Ms. Zhang from Anyang, Henan and Ms. Li from Xi'an suddenly appeared at the Tesla booth wearing white T-shirts with "brake failure". Ms. Zhang also stood on the top of the Tesla car to defend her rights, causing high attention and becoming the most sensational news event at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show.
Ms. Zhang introduced that on February 21st of that year, her father drove a Tesla and brought four people home from outside. Passing through a traffic light intersection and preparing to slow down, I suddenly realized that the brakes were malfunctioning, causing two cars to collide in a row. Finally, I hit the cement barrier on the roadside before stopping. Ms. Zhang stated that both her parents were injured in the accident, her mother suffered multiple soft tissue injuries throughout her body, and her father had a slight concussion in the head. Afterwards, due to inner fear, she approached Tesla officials and requested that the vehicle be returned. But because Tesla repeatedly evaded the blame and did not respond positively, she took this approach to defend her rights.
On the afternoon of April 19, 2021, Tesla China Vice President Tao Lin responded to the rights infringement incident at the auto show: Tesla cannot compromise. On the morning of April 20th, the official Weibo account of the Qingpu Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau released a notice stating that the woman involved in the "Tesla Auto Show Encountered Rights Protection by Car Owners" incident, Zhang, was sentenced to five days of administrative detention for disrupting public order.
On the evening of April 20, 2021, Tesla apologized to customers on its official Weibo account and stated that a dedicated processing team had been established to do its best to meet the demands of car owners. On April 21st, the State Administration of Market Regulation instructed market supervision and management departments in Henan Province, Shanghai, and other cities to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers in accordance with the law.
On April 22, 2021, Tesla provided data from one minute before the vehicle accident to a reporter from China Market Regulation Daily and provided a written explanation. On April 26th, Tesla apologized again and stated that it would do its best to solve the existing problems. On May 6th, Ms. Zhang submitted a civil lawsuit to the court, demanding that the relevant personnel be held legally responsible.
However, in the following two years, there has been a decrease in news of Tesla's rooftop rights violations involving female car owners, and related hot topics have gradually subsided until the two judgments on May 26, 2023 entered the public eye.
In the Reputation Rights case, the court held in the judgment that the "team", "whitewashing", and "she is only willing to pay high compensation" mentioned by Tesla Beijing and its staff during the interview were generally a description of the relevant facts during the communication and coordination process between the two parties. Although the wording was not rigorous enough, insulting language was not used, nor was it deliberately derogatory.
In the personal privacy case, the court ruled that Tesla disclosed vehicle data, including the frame number, in an interview with a market surveillance newspaper, with a written explanation one minute prior to the accident, but this set of data cannot be associated with the owner's personal confidential information.
Although some cases have been lost, Ms. Zhang still has four ongoing cases related to Tesla's reputation rights, brake failure, and other disputes, in courts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Henan. On November 22nd, Ms. Zhang told reporters from Shanghai Securities News that there is currently no new progress in these cases and she is waiting for court notification.
