Tesla has scored a legal victory in China, winning a defamation case against Zhang Yazhou, a woman who publicly protested against the company over allegations of faulty brakes in the Tesla Model 3, TechCrunch reports.
In February 2021, Zhang was a passenger in the aforementioned Tesla electric car, which she said was involved in an accident due to a brake malfunction. This allegedly resulted in injuries that caused her parents to spend four days in the hospital. After the incident, Zhang organized public protests against Tesla and filed a lawsuit against the company. In response, Tesla filed a counterclaim, and the court ordered Zhang to pay $23,000 in compensation and publicly apologize.
Zhang, who is appealing the decision, continues to dispute Tesla's version of events. The company, under public pressure, eventually released telemetry data from her car, which allegedly confirms that the brakes were working properly.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Tesla has filed lawsuits against at least six car owners in China over the past four years over complaints of mechanical failures. In addition, the company has also filed lawsuits against six bloggers and two Chinese media outlets that published critical materials about Tesla.
Court records reviewed by AP show a difficult situation for Tesla owners in China. Of the 81 civil cases filed by Tesla customers regarding safety, quality, or contractual disputes, buyers have won only nine cases.