Some Tesla owners sue Elon Musk's company for damaging their reputation
A group of Tesla owners in France is suing Elon Musk 's car company, alleging its vehicles have become "far-right totems" that are harming their reputation, according to the law firm representing the group.
The group is seeking to terminate their lease contracts and recover legal costs at the Paris Commercial Court, citing the "direct and concrete" harm caused by Musk's public behaviour after he rallied in support of Donald Trump 's presidential bid and Germany's far-right AfD party.
The lawsuit comes amid plummeting Tesla sales in key European markets, including France, Britain, Germany, and Italy, partly in protest of Musk's political activities and as customers favour Chinese electric vehicles due to their competitive prices.
"Tesla vehicles have become powerful political symbols and are now perceived as true far-right 'totems,' much to the dismay of those who purchased them solely as innovative and eco-friendly vehicles", the plaintiffs' lawyers Patrick Klugman and Ivan Terel, at law firm GKA said.
Tesla Europe did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
GKA said about 10 Tesla leaseholders had joined the lawsuit.
Musk helped bankroll Trump's presidential campaign and spearheaded Trump's efforts to cut federal jobs and slash what the administration perceived as wasteful public spending.
Musk's involvement in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) saw him become a political lightning rod, fueling protests and vandalism at Tesla showrooms in the United States and Europe.
The GKA statement referred to a hand gesture by the billionaire during Trump's inauguration celebrations that drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute as an example of his harmful behaviour. Musk dismissed the criticism of the gesture as a "tired" attack.
Musk said on Wednesday he regretted some of the remarks he made on the social media platform X, which he owns, during an acrimonious and very public falling out with Trump last week.
'I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,' the world's richest man wrote.
On the same day that Musk appeared to extend an olive branch, Trump said in a pre-recorded podcast interview that reconciliation between the pair was possible.
'Look, I have no hard feelings,' Trump said in the interview recorded on Monday. 'I was really surprised that that happened. He went after a bill that's phenomenal. …He just — I think he feels very badly that he said that, actually.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's policies could have a major impact on your credit score. Here's how
Your support helps us to tell the story Read more Support Now From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more President Donald Trump returned to the White House this January with a flurry of sweeping orders – some of which may impact Americans' credit scores. Trump and his allies are set on enacting his 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' which would add trillions to the country's already sizable deficit and drive up interest rates, producing large-scale macroeconomic repercussions. Financial markets have already warned of the rising debt, with Moody's cutting its pristine 'Aaa' U.S. credit rating, which could take even further hits if the deficit continues to rise. To help pay for the bill, Republicans are looking to make cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs, without which, more Americans are likely to go into medical debt. Some 15 million Americans with medical debt may suffer even greater consequences of Trump's policies after his administration paused a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would ban the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports. As of now, medical debt can be included in credit scores and a significant amount of medical bills can drag down a credit score. A lower credit score means a person appears to be a bigger risk to a lender, such as a bank. That could lead to higher interest rates on loans, such as for a car or a home. open image in gallery President Donald Trump's spending bill will have far-reaching macroeconomic repercussions and likely impact Americans' credit scores. ( AP ) A Biden-era rule would have removed $49 million in medical debt from credit score records, but new leadership at CFPB appointed by Trump is attempting to reverse its course, NPR reported. In addition to the complete switch in its stance, the CFPB joined forces with plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit trying to stop the Biden ban. The rule has since been stuck in limbo, with Judge Sean Jordan from Texas' Eastern District federal court twice ordering a stay, delaying the rule's new start date until the end of July. The outcome of the lawsuit will have tremendous financial implications for millions of Americans whose medical debt has negatively impacted their credit scores. Meanwhile, consumer advocates have been speaking out on behalf of the medical debt rule, worried abandoning it would take away necessary consumer protections. "I'm disappointed for the 15 million Americans who have medical bills on their credit reports and have to suffer the consequences of poor credit scores because of it," Patricia Kelmar, senior director of health care campaigns at the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, told USA Today. open image in gallery Trump-appointed CFPB leaders is looking to reverse a Biden-era rule that would ban the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports. ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) In the lawsuit filed in April, CFPB along with plaintiffs, the Consumer Data Industry Association and the Cornerstone Credit Union League, asked the judge to abandon the medical debt rule 'because it exceeds the bureau's statutory authority.' "We believe that Congress is the only one who can act on this and determine whether or not it can be on the credit report," Dan Smith, CEO and president of the Consumer Data Industry Association, told NPR. "Our intention here is to protect the credit reporting system. To ensure that it is as complete and accurate as possible," he said. In the lawsuit, the groups also note that the three largest credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax – no longer list paid medical debts, unpaid medical debts less than a year old and medical debts less than $500. Americans' credit scores may also see some changes thanks to a proposal from Trump that would cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent – a significant reduction from the current average interest rate of about 21 percent. Lower rates mean people would be able to pay back credit card bills quicker, and improve their credit scores by having less debt. The proposal was touted as a solution to the debt many Americans owe due to high credit card interest rates, Newsweek reported. open image in gallery Americans held $45 billion more in credit card debt in 2024 than in 2023. ( Getty Images/iStockphoto ) Americans held $1.21 trillion in credit card debt as of December 2024 – an increase of $45 billion from September 2024, per New York Fed data. Data also shows that 7.18 percent of U.S. credit card debt is in serious delinquency, likely causing many credit scores to take a serious downward spiral. Following Trump's campaign promise, Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Ny) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla) introduced legislation to cap credit card interest rates at a maximum of 10 percent. The measure would take the financial burden away from consumers, especially those with high-interest debt. The cap would last until January 1, 2031, according to the bill.
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
US FDA puts on hold Rein Therapeutics' lung disease drug trial
June 12 (Reuters) - Rein Therapeutics (RNTX.O), opens new tab has paused patient enrollment and dosing in a mid-stage trial of its lung disease drug in the U.S. after the Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold, the drug developer said on Thursday. Shares of the company fell nearly 10% after the bell. The company was testing a drug named LTI-03 to treat patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The disease causes scarring of the lungs that makes it harder for them to work properly. Rein said in a filing that it is actively working with the FDA to remove the clinical hold. The FDA and Rein did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on why the hold was placed. The drug was well-tolerated and safe in an early-stage study in patients with IPF, the company said in the filing. No drug-related serious adverse events have been reported in any studies treating patients with LTI-03, it added. Rein continues to study the drug and enroll patients in Australia and Europe.
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
Effort to strip Fed of interest paying power seen likely to bring upheaval to markets
NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - A Republican senator's plan to take away the Federal Reserve's power to pay banks interest on cash they park on central bank books could cause chaos for monetary policy implementation if it were implemented, market participants said. In recent days, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has been speaking about this power and his desire to see it ended as part of what he views as an effort to save money by the federal government. Stripping the Fed of the longstanding power would save the government $1 trillion, Cruz said in a CNBC interview last week. The senator said then that he did not know if it was likely his effort would work but that it was certainly possible. On Wednesday, Bloomberg, opens new tab reported that Cruz had also lobbied President Donald Trump, who has long been at odds with the Fed, as well as Republican colleagues, about his idea. 'We're agonizing trying to find a $50 billion cut here and there. This is over a trillion dollars, big dollars in savings,' Cruz told Bloomberg, saying of the payments, 'half of it is going to foreign banks, which makes no sense.' Cruz's office did not respond to a request for comment. The Fed declined to comment. Cruz's effort is being treated cautiously by Senator Tim Scott, the Republican from South Carolina who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. "While the desire to return to pre-crisis monetary policy operating procedures is understandable," the matter must be considered under normal Senate procedures, Scott said in a statement. Any move on this must start with a hearing, Scott said, adding, "this is not a decision to be rushed – it must be carefully considered and openly debated." The Fed's power to pay banks interest, granted by Congress, took effect in 2008 as the financial crisis dawned. It quickly gained prominence as part of a large-scale overhaul of the monetary policy architecture, as the Fed confronted the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. As it now stands, the Fed pays deposit-taking banks 4.4% for reserves. It uses another tool called the reverse repo facility to take in cash from money market funds and others, paying them 4.25%. Together, the two rates are designed to keep the federal funds rate, the central bank's main tool for influencing the economy, within the desired range. Paying financial firms for de facto loans of cash is essential for interest rate control due to the very large amount of liquidity created by bond buying stimulus efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed more than doubled the size of its balance sheet to a peak of $9 trillion, with asset purchases providing support to the economy beyond what the then near-zero short-term rates could deliver. If the Fed did not have the power to pay interest on deposits, the still substantial amount of liquidity sloshing around in markets would prevent it from controlling short-term rates. That said, concerns have long existed, even among some former central bankers, that paying banks money to deposit cash at the Fed is effectively a subsidy to banks. The other issue with paying interest on reserves is that it has led the Fed into an unprecedented period of loss-making. The Fed has been operating in the red because the interest rate it now has in place outstrips the income it earns off bonds it owns. Most analysts expect the loss-making to occur for some time to come. Fed losses mean that it is not handing over profits back to the Treasury, as it is required to do when it is in the green. Sums handed back to the Treasury over recent years contributed modestly to lowering deficits. Experts believe Cruz's plan would completely fail to achieve its goals and would instead cause huge upheaval in money markets. Barclays Capital economists said on Tuesday that ending the power would simply push the cash into the reverse repo facility, which means the central bank would still be paying lots of interest to financial firms, thus negating any deficit savings. J.P. Morgan strategists said in a note last week that under Cruz's plan, 'the Fed's ability to control money market rates may be compromised, complicating its efforts to guide broader financial conditions via the fed funds rate and other money market rates.'
