Stock Market News

Tesla hit with ‘right to repair’ antitrust class actions

2023.03.15 14:14


© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen at a Tesla Supercharger station October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) – Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc has been sued in a pair of proposed antitrust class actions accusing the company of unlawfully curbing competition for maintenance and replacement parts for its electric vehicles, forcing owners to pay more and wait longer for repair services.

The lawsuits, filed on Tuesday and Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, allege that Tesla designed its electric vehicles, warranties and repair policies to discourage owners and lessees from using independent shops outside of Tesla’s control.

“Tesla needs to open up its ecosystem and allow competition for the servicing of Tesla [vehicles] and sales of parts,” said plaintiffs lawyer Matthew Ruan of Freed Kanner London & Millen, who filed one of the proposed class actions.

A representative from Austin, Texas-based Tesla did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Tesla defense counsel have not yet made an appearance in the cases.

The proposed class in both cases would include anyone who has paid Tesla for repairs or parts since March 2019.

Each complaint was filed on behalf of a California resident, and neither lawsuit specified a damages amount. Ruan said the potential class includes hundreds of thousands of Tesla owners and lessees, so damages could total hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lawyers from McCune Law Group, which filed a similar class action complaint on Wednesday, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Tesla, the world’s most valuable automaker, recorded revenue of $24.32 billion for the fourth quarter. The company delivered 405,278 vehicles in the quarter.

Tesla joins other major vehicle makers facing “right to repair” antitrust litigation over alleged exclusionary conduct.

A group of cases against Harley-Davidson (NYSE:) Motor Co Group LLC were recently consolidated in Wisconsin federal court, and Deere (NYSE:) & Co, the world’s largest farm equipment maker, is defending against allegations in federal district court in Chicago. Both companies have denied claims.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission in 2021 issued a policy statement that said the agency would make it a priority to address manufacturer restrictions on repairs and parts.

Tesla’s alleged restraints on service and repair, according to the new lawsuits, caused “exorbitant wait times” for drivers who otherwise would have gone to an independent repair shop.

The lawsuits call for Tesla’s repair services and parts monopoly to be “dismantled” and for the company to be ordered to make its repair manuals and diagnostic tools “available to individuals and independent repair shops at a reasonable cost.”

The cases are Virginia Lambrix v Tesla Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:23-cv-01145; and Robert Orendian v. Tesla, No. 3:23-cv-01157.

Read more:

Harley-Davidson hit with class actions over ‘right to repair’ restrictions

U.S. FTC settles with Weber grills over ‘right to repair’

FTC votes to make ‘right to repair’ a priority, drops 1995 merger policy

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 75,650.27 0.30%
vested-xor
Vested XOR (VXOR) $ 3,405.08 99,999.99%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,877.62 6.91%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.02%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 195.22 3.33%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 598.13 1.21%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999545 0.11%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.552777 1.83%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.19161 3.14%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,876.94 6.92%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.401447 11.47%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.160179 1.60%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 4.91 3.40%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,415.25 6.99%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000019 0.52%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 27.38 2.43%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 75,603.26 0.12%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,879.48 6.91%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 12.54 3.59%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 381.36 1.46%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.29 0.31%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.15 1.79%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 6.25 0.30%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.20%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 71.68 1.16%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 8.95 4.91%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,024.38 6.79%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 4.23 0.76%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 9.75 2.41%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000011 11.07%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 509.22 2.79%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.78 0.98%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.40 0.84%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999666 0.13%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.101498 4.71%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 164.83 1.47%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 20.14 3.87%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.114415 4.54%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.20%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 19.61 1.37%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 183.20 6.33%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.344524 3.33%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 1.67 2.34%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.091074 6.29%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 40.26 2.04%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 2.36 1.80%
first-digital-usd
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 0.99377 0.54%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.581736 7.13%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 3.76 2.25%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.663181 11.42%