Thai consumer watchdog to file civil suit against Volvo Cars' Thai unit, official says

By Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK, June 5 (Reuters) - Thailand's consumer watchdog has approved the filing of a civil lawsuit against the local unit of Volvo Cars and its repair and maintenance unit, Scandinavian Auto Co. Ltd, over battery-related fires in its EX30 model, Pradoemchai Bunchualuai, an adviser to the minister who chairs the watchdog, told Reuters by phone on Friday.

The legal move comes after a meeting in Bangkok last month between Volvo Cars, the consumer protection board and customers failed to reach an agreement. 

The Office of the Consumer Protection Board will act as a plaintiff for 550 complaints and will file each suit individually, Pradoemchai said. Next week the office will send the first case, which is seeking 1.2 million baht ($36,750) in damages, to the public prosecutor, he said.

The Thai unit of Volvo Cars did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Volvo Cars declined to comment. 

Reuters reported in February that Volvo would recall more than 40,000 EX30s globally and replace battery modules due to a defect that could cause packs to overheat and potentially catch fire. Volvo has subsequently said the number of vehicles in the recall has been reduced to 37,802 from 40,323.

Volvo Cars has said there were some delays to battery replacements due to the Iran war. It has said incidents remain rare, with fires reported in well under 0.1% of affected vehicles.

($1 = 32.6500 baht)

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat, Additional reporting by Marie Mannes in Stockolm, Editing by John Mair)