This photo provided by Tesla Inc, shows the carmaker’s service center in western Seoul.
SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean court has ruled against customers who filed a lawsuit against the local unit of U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc., claiming that they had incurred losses as they were not informed that a new model would be launched shortly thereafter at the time of their purchase.
The Seoul Central District Court recently ruled in favor of Tesla Korea in a reparations lawsuit filed by five customers against the company.
The customers purchased a Tesla EV in March 2019, a month before the company announced a specifications upgrade, which led them to file the lawsuit demanding reparations for 10 million won (US$8,380) per person.
The plaintiffs claimed that Tesla’s specifications upgrade was equivalent to the release of a new car, and that the company was required to notify customers of these changes to protect their right to choose.
The court, however, ruled that there was no evidence of Tesla making it explicit that the company would not be releasing a new car.
The court also pointed out that the cars that the customers purchased had been in the market for a considerable amount of time, and there had been speculation by the media and other consumers that an upgrade was going to be made soon.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
