German carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Sunday disputed allegations made by a Chinese driver, who claimed in mid-March that his Mercedes-Benz car went out of control at high speed on an expressway because of a potential malfunction in the car's cruise control system.
"Situations under which multiple systems of a car were at fault at the same time are very rare and if they occur, the car would not be able to drive a long distance," Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co said in the statement released on Monday.
The incident, which ended without any injuries, received widespread attention after reports and a short video were published online and sparked a debate over what caused the car to lose control, with some blaming a system malfunction and others saying the driver might have exaggerated things.
In a document sent to State broadcaster China Central Television dated Sunday, Mercedes-Benz's China unit said that relevant systems of the car in question were operating properly on the night of the incident, including the cruise control and brake systems, which were at the core of the public debate.
"The cruise system is part of the car's electronic system and could be canceled through multiple ways," said the Mercedes-Benz. "Also the car could be decelerated or stopped using hydraulic or mechanical braking systems."
The statement also added that efforts to communicate with the driver to have a thorough inspection of the car have made no serious progress.
The driver identified as a man surnamed Xue claimed that his Mercedes-Benz C200L went out of control after he put it in cruise control at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour and could not stopped using the brakes until he opened the door, as instructed by police.
In the statement, Mercedes-Benz said that slowing down the car by unbuckling the seatbelt or opening the door is not only "wrong but dangerous.
