Mazda Sales (Thailand) has been ordered by the Bangkok South Civil Court to recall all Mazda 2 cars with diesel engines produced and sold between 2014 and 2018 for modifications, at the expenses of the company.
In a class action lawsuit against the automobile company, the court ruled that the cars, Mazda 2 Skyactiv D1.5, are defective and unsafe.
Apart from shouldering the costs to fix the defects, the court said that the company must be responsible for compensating each customer to the tune of 1,800 baht/day, during the period the cars are undergoing modification, and 30,000 baht each for the psychological distress plus 5% interest for the amount owed to the customers since the class action case was filed.
The class action suit was filed by nine customers who found the cars to be defective.
Jinna Yamoaum, a lawyer representing the nine customers, said yesterday (Tuesday) that he welcomes the court’s ruling which, he hopes, will serve a reminder to car manufacturers to be more responsible.
He said that, previously, most car companies would try to evade their responsibilities and would try to blame their customers for causing the defects.
He explained that this lawsuit is an open-ended case, which means that the court’s ruling is applied to all the customers who bought this model of Mazda car, not just the nine plaintiffs.
Meanwhile, the Foundation for Consumers posted to its web page urging all customers to prepare their documents to demand compensation from the company when the case is finalised.
There is no response yet to the court’s verdict from Mazda Sales (Thailand) or whether it will appeal the ruling.
