Top Gear row: Tesla loses appeal over Jeremy Clarkson review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/mar/05/top-gear-tesla-jeremy-clarkson

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Electric car manufacturer Tesla has lost its appeal against a high court ruling rejecting its libel claim against BBC2's Top Gear.

The court of appeal on Tuesday dismissed the California-based company's complaint that it suffered reputational damage from Jeremy Clarkson's review of its £92,000 Tesla Roadster car.

The ruling by three senior appeal court judges is likely to mark the end of Tesla's three-year legal fight over the programme, first broadcast in December 2008.

Top Gear's review of the electric vehicle showed it apparently running out of battery on the programme's track before being pushed back into a garage by Clarkson.

Tesla claimed it suffered a $171,000 loss from the fall in UK sales as a result of the programme.

But the court of appeal on Tuesday dismissed Tesla's attempt to amend a previous libel claim which was struck out in October 2011.

Lord Justice Moore-Bick said in the judgment he did not consider Tesla had "sufficient prospect of recovering a substantial sum by way of damages to justify continuing the proceedings to trial".

He added: "It follows that I am not persuaded that the case which Tesla seeks to make by the proposed amendment has any real prospect of success or, if successful, is likely to yield any benefit to Tesla that can justify the devotion of the substantial resources in terms of costs and the use if court time that its determination would require.

"I am therefore satisfied that the judge was right to refuse permission for the amendment."

The court ordered Tesla to pay the BBC £25,000 in legal costs.

Last month Tesla got into a tit-for-tat online spat with New York Times writer John Broder over an unflattering review he wrote about its Model S car.

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