After Tesla was accused of delivering another car with structural damage, will they face legal action this time?
Popular Electric Vehicle (EV) company, Tesla, is once again in the spotlight but for all the wrong reasons this time. Often credited as the pioneer brand that kickstarted the clean mobility initiatives we see today, they are not without their own problems.
Tesla has recently been accused of trying to cover up structural defects in their cars, specifically a Tesla Model 3 showing cracks on the underbody while undergoing a routine tire change. This comes after they allegedly also delivered a new car with scratched and deformed jacking points.
According to the German Newspaper, Bild, Tesla will have to face the music in a German Court over build quality concerns. The Bild also wrote that Tesla allegedly attempted to cover up the damage to the underbody of the Tesla Model 3 in question by painting over the damage.
So when the owner of the Model 3 brought this case to the court, they ordered an independent investigation into these defects. The investigator was said to have confirmed that the damage was serious enough that the car would not have been able to pass the country’s meticulous general safety inspection, the TÜV.
While the court could not confirm if the Tesla Model 3 had ever been involved in an accident, they remarked that it is odd for a car to show any signs of structural damage without crashing.
As for the aforementioned case of Tesla delivering a new car with defects, The Bild wrote that Tesla dismissed the complaints as a cosmetic issue. This is in stark contrast to the findings of the independent investigation which alleges that the car would fail an inspection mainly designed to address issues commonly found in ageing vehicles.
As of now, the court is still yet to decide on the outcome of either of the cases and it remains uncertain what kind of legal ramifications they are considering. Although, manufacturer buybacks seem to be the most likely option at the moment.
However, this should be the least of Tesla’s worries as if the lawsuit sticks, then any future cars with build defects, whether it is a Tesla Model 3 or otherwise, will always end up having a strong case against the company and will more than likely affect their brand image and reliability status.
For now, all Tesla can hope for is for these two cases to be remote incidents and ensure the highest level of quality control for all their cars moving forward.
Do you think these two incidents were just a coincidence or is there a larger pattern at play here? Either way, Tesla needs to buck up very quickly or they could risk losing everything.
