Seemingly following in the footsteps of Mercedes-Benz, German auto giant Volkswagen has got itself involved in a dispute with a Chinese consumer who alleges that his car has faulty brakes.
Three weeks ago, a Mercedes-Benz owner in Central China's Hubei Province destroyed his sedan and claimed Mercedes-Benz had failed on several occasions to fix the brakes in his car. The dispute with Mercedes is still to be resolved.
The Audi A8 owner -- Yang Shaohui, manager of Zhonghui International Development Group in Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province -- chose to take direct legal action against Volkswagen and requested compensation of 250,000 yuan (US$30,000), even though the problem occurred three months after he bought the car.
Xi'an Lianhu District People's Court has accepted the case and has told both sides to prepare for a case hearing.
Volkswagen admitted Yang's Audi A8's braking problem after the company's technicians checked the car, saying a part in the car's braking system valued less than US$10 did not work.
But officials with the public relations department of Volkswagen's Beijing Office, said that the company had offered free repair service, but Yang had refused it.
A telephone interview Tuesday afternoon with Yang's colleague Bao Lude, confirmed Volkswagen's words.
But Bao noted that the company wanted the car, bought at a price of 930,000 yuan (US$112,000) last March, to be returned, since they were not sure whether any other problems would occur as time passed.
Dai Wei, an official with China consumers Association in charge of lawsuits, told China Daily that under the present Chinese law, product quality disputes usually need to be resolved firstly through repair. Consumers can demand compensation, return the car or have an exchange if repair work has failed.
(China Daily January 16, 2002)
