TSLA Tesla Inc

An auto supplier Tesla Motors Inc. sued in U.S. federal court, saying it misrepresented its capabilities to design an actuator for special doors, says its lived up to its agreement and had been prepared to launch high-volume production before the electric car company pulled its contract in May 2015.

Tesla last week sued Hoerbiger Automotive Comfort Systems LLC, saying it couldn't do what it claimed to be able to do in designing actuators for the falcon wing doors on Tesla's Model X SUV. The supplier hadn't commented last week after Tesla filed the lawsuit.

Tesla said that it had to switch to an electromechanical design from the proposed hydraulic design because the prototypes developed by Hoerbiger leaked oil or became overheated and stopped working.

Hoerbiger, which is a subsidiary of a Swiss holding company with a German automotive headquarters, said in a statement Monday that its system met all the requirements.

"Tesla Motors, Inc. repudiated its agreements with Hoerbiger in May 2015. By this point in time, Hoerbiger Automotive Comfort Systems was already fully prepared to begin high-volume production according to Tesla's most current schedule," the statement reads. "Hoerbiger was in compliance with the specifications stipulated by Tesla."

Tesla officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Hoerbiger also said that its work on the actuator wasn't the cause of some of the problems listed by Tesla, including overheating and symmetry problems.

Hoerbiger was attempting to recover from Tesla money for the capital it had invested to build the actuators for the doors, which rise up vertically on the sides of the electric SUV. Tesla sued the supplier in order to get a court to state that it had no right to additional money.

Lawsuits between auto makers and suppliers aren't uncommon. Auto companies even continue to work with suppliers that are suing them and vice versa. In this case, the lawsuit brings to light a reason why the Model X came out behind schedule. Tesla delayed its launch several times. The change of design in May 2015 was only four months before Tesla started production on the vehicle, an unusually short window, particularly for such an important feature of the vehicle.

Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 25, 2016 09:05 ET (14:05 GMT)

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