Turkey: Court orders Land Rover to pay compensation

ISTANBUL

After a multi-year court battle, a Turkish court has ordered British carmaker Land Rover to pay a businessman compensation after his new car turned out to have defects.

The case, settled late Tuesday, said Engin Yakut bought a Range Rover Vogue model in 2013 for €170,000 ($191,000), but soon it broke down.

Mechanics at Borusan Oto, Land Rover's distributor in Turkey, issued a report blaming the breakdown on a manufacturing defect.

After three attempts by Yakut to get Land Rover to replace his car went unanswered, Yakut filed suit in Istanbul’s Consumer Court No:1, demanding the car be pulled from the market.

The case drew great interest on social media, with the hashtag 'landrovergameover' trending for four days in a row.

Yakut also appealed to the European Parliament and European Commission for all Range Rover Vogue cars on sale in Europe to be pulled from the market.

After seeing evidence of the manufacturing defect, the court ordered the company to reimburse Yakut for his purchase, with interest, but did not order the Vogue model pulled from the market.

* Writing by Ali Murat Alhas