Tesla hit with antitrust class action lawsuits over monopolization of repairs, replacement parts
The proposed class action lawsuits include Tesla owners who have paid for repairs or parts over the past four years
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Tesla is facing a pair of class action lawsuits that accuse the company of monopolizing maintenance and replacement parts for its vehicles.
The pair of lawsuits, filed in federal court in San Francisco this week, charge Tesla with designing its cars in a way that discourages owners from doing repairs themselves.
A Tesla showroom in Santa Monica, California, US, on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. (Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The new lawsuits accuse the electric vehicle manufacturer of causing "exorbitant wait times" for drivers who could have other gone to an independent repair shop.
The lawsuit calls for Tesla to make its repair manuals and diagnostic tools "available to individuals and independent repair shops at a reasonable cost."
Tesla Model Y electric vehicles in a lot at the Tesla Inc. Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany, on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. (Liesa Johannssen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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"Tesla needs to open up its ecosystem and allow competition for the servicing of Tesla [vehicles] and sales of parts," plaintiffs lawyer Matthew Ruan of Freed Kanner & Millen said.
The proposed class action lawsuits include Tesla owners who have paid for repairs or parts over the past four years. Neither lawsuit specifies an amount, but Ruan said damages could be upward of hundreds of millions of dollars.
tesla (AP Photo/David Zalubowski / AP Newsroom)
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FOX Business has reached out to Tesla for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.