TapTechNews June 19 - According to Reuters, on Monday, Judge Trina Thompson of the San Francisco area in the US ruled that Tesla owners can continue to file a class-action lawsuit accusing Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla of monopolizing the repair and parts market.
In November last year, the judge dismissed the owners' lawsuit on the grounds that the owners could not prove that Tesla was a monopoly, and the owners' lawyer expressed satisfaction with the judge's changed result.
The owners previously stated that due to the fear of losing the warranty, Tesla forced them to pay high prices and wait for a long time to repair their vehicles, which violated the federal Sherman Antitrust Law and the California Antitrust Law.
Judge Thompson found that Tesla is suspected of refusing to open a sufficient number of authorized service centers, and the vehicles have diagnostics that only the company can provide, thus forming evidence of a monopoly in repairs.
The judge also said that the evidence shows that Tesla monopolizes the parts market by restricting original equipment manufacturers to'sell only to Tesla' and selling parts to consumers only on a limited basis.
Tesla sells its vehicles directly to consumers without going through dealers, and they handle repairs and parts themselves, and do not allow owners to use independent repair shops and parts from other companies. Tesla's financial report shows that in 2023, Tesla's service and other automotive revenues totaled 8.3 billion US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 60.303 billion yuan), accounting for 9% of total revenue.