International Support for the Land Rover lawsuit

A press briefing organised after Turkish businessman and lawyer Engin Yakut won the seven year legal battle against the British automotive giant Land Rover. The honorary president of the DMW, Ambassador Günther Meinel, the president of DMW Ferhat Bozçelik, Engin Yakut and the lawyer of Yakut, Candaş Gürol, were at the briefing. DMW Diplomaten International stated that they are going to support the lawsuit before the European Consumer Organisation, which was taken to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

THE HONORARY PRESIDENT: THE WORLD HEARD TURKEY’S NAME

The honorary president of the DMW Günther Meinel considered the lawsuit a significant example for European consumers as well. He said: ’It is a big success that a Turkish citizen won a lawsuit against a giant car manufacturer. We did not expect that such a lawsuit would come out of Turkey. The applications originating from Turkey were not being taken seriously. But we have to take Turkey seriously. This lawsuit proves that there are hardworking and detail-oriented Turks. Engin Yakut has made the whole world hear what an important country Turkey is. Take Turkey seriously so that no problems occur. We want to live amicably with Turkey.’

“THEY WANT TO HARM THE TURKISH ECONOMY”

Meinel stated that Turkey is a very important country and added, “Significant operations take place abroad in order to harm the Turkish economy. Turkey will not be easily shaken by these. Turkey is very important for us. We are going to do everything we can in order to make Turkey join the European Union. In order to see what Turkey can do, go and see the new airport, Turkey will show you what she accomplished.”

“THERE ARE ABOUT 8,600 SIMILAR DEFECTIVE CARS IN EUROPE

Engin Yakut stated after the lawsuit that there were thousands of cars with the same engine defects in Turkey and said, “We started this with just one car. Then we saw that there are thousands of Range Rovers with engine and gearbox defects. We found out that not only the cars that were produced in 2013, but also those that were produced in other years have manufacturing defects. According to the documents of the Ministry of Customs and Trade around 2,200 engines and gearboxes were imported. This number suggests that there are manufacturing defects in the engines and gearboxes. The inspectors of the Ministry of Customs and Trade can detect the defects and stop the import of these cars if they launch an investigation on the Turkish distributor. As the honorary president Meinel stated there are around 8,600 cars in Europe with similar engine and gearbox defects. The Court of Justice of the European Union also launched an investigation on this. Unfortunately, unless the Land Rover Company accepts these manufacturing defects they are going to suffer huge damages. The CEO of the company has to go public and he has to recall Range Rover Vogue SUVs. We filed this lawsuit in the name of all the consumers in the world. It constitutes a great danger for everybody that these cars with engine defects are in use. This is a violation of human rights and consumer rights. The brave prosecutors of Europe should also launch investigations.”

“WE ARE GOING TO SEND A LETTER TO THE QUEEN”

Yakut said that he was preparing a letter concerning this matter to be sent to the British Prime Minister and the Queen. Yakut said, “We expect the Queen to be sensitive about the Land Rover Company. We are going to present the case to her and request that an investigation is launched. Unless the company accepts these defects, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Consumer Organisation are going to launch investigations. The statement of the company is going to be taken and the manufacturing defects in the Range Rover engines are going to be identified. The EU may fine Land Rover.”

A RECALL LAWSUIT WAS FILED

Engin Yakut underlined that they filed a recall lawsuit andexpecting the Ministry of Customs and Trade to launch an investigation. Yakut said, “We are going to file a criminal complaint against the Turkish distributor for the prosecution office to launch an investigation due to tax and customs fraud. If we win this lawsuit we are going to obtain the right to ‘recall’ all the Range Rover Vogue SUVs in Europe via ‘International Recognition and Approval.”

ABOUT THE RANGE ROVER LAWSUIT

Turkish businessman and lawyer Engin Yakut purchased a Range Rover Vogue with the number plate 34 PHJ 41 from a dealer in Istanbul for 170 thousand euros (397 thousand and 800 liras) in 2013. While he was driving the car, which was at 450 km registered in the odometer, at the speed of 70 km/h, he realised the sudden burning smell coming from the engine and the sparks and he saw that the car started discharging motor oil. A week later Yakut received a report from the distributor company that the car was taken to, stating that ‘the engine was a write-off, the gearbox screws came unstuck because they had not been adequately tightened and there was a breakdown due to a manufacturing defect.’ The company told Yakut that it did not bear any responsibility for the car, because it was purchased from an unofficial dealer. Yakut sent three notifications to the Land Rover Company and requested the replacement of the car. After he did not receive any response from the company, Yakut first filed a lawsuit to perpetuate testimony and he and the court experts carried out examinations at the Turkish distributor and they identified that the engine had manufacturing defects. After that, through his lawyer Dr Candaş Gürol he filed a lawsuit of “recall of the cars” at the 1st Consumer Court of Istanbul. In the lawsuit that continued for seven years the Turkish Court made a verdict that the engine of the Range Rover Vogue SUV manufactured by the Land Rover Company had manufacturing defects. Yakut won the lawsuit for damages he filed against the British car manufacturer at the 8th Consumer Court of Istanbul on 28th February.