stevejust
T E S L A x (≡)
How? Where did Tesla promise to use Alcantara in the headliner for the Model 3? Pretty sure everyone is overreacting here...
1) To begin with, show me a single photo of a 3 interior without the alcantara-like headliner and inserts in the door. On Tesla's website, in the RC photos, and in the production 3s delivered to date. That creates a reasonable expectation in a reasonable consumer that their car, too, if they pay the $5,000 for the PUP, they'll get the interior that other people paid the $5,000 for and received.
This creates an expectation. This alone is not necessarily legally binding, but it is fairly strong evidence in a claim that, perhaps, Tesla falsely advertised the content of its PUP package.
2) Secondly, Tesla advertised the PUP as follows to people who purchased the 3:
You see where it says "premium materials" like "premium cabin materials"? If a juror were invited to see the alcantara interior everyone else who already received their 3 got and compare it to this new change, do you think the jury would agree that the new change is a premium material, or an inferior material? Remember, they might be shown Alcantara interiors in Bentleys and Buggatis, like the earlier pictures I posted.
At this point, Tesla is going to have to prove that the material isn't a substantive change between the premium materials people thought they were getting, and inferior materials like you would find on any 'ol car a person didn't pay $5,000 to upgrade.
There are several pending lawsuits against Tesla, many of which are spurious. But this is one that not only has legs, I would, if I had Tesla try to deliver a 3 to me with a crappier interior than what I thought I was paying $5,000 for, have to consider whether or not I was entitled to some kind of discount for the discrepancy. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't feel the same way.