Tesla must recall 1.6 million vehicles in China over a software update that poses “safety risks,” a major blow to the American manufacturer that was overtaken in electric sales by China's BYD.
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This recall is intended to fix software errors in assisted driving and vehicle door locking, the Chinese market regulator announced on Friday.
The measure affects two batches of cars manufactured between 2014 and 2023 and covers a total of 1.6 million Model S, Model Distance.
This error “increases the risk of a collision with the vehicle and poses a safety problem,” estimates the Chinese regulator.
In December, Tesla recalled two million vehicles in the US due to a risk related to their assisted driving system.
China is the biggest market for the brand, which has a factory in Shanghai, the largest outside the United States. According to the official Xinhua news agency, Tesla will produce more than 900,000 vehicles there in 2023.
Tough competition
Tesla boss Elon Musk visited China in late May for the first time in more than three years due to anti-Covid health restrictions that limited travel.
There he met now former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, whose last public appearance was in August.
Tesla faces stiff competition in China, the world's largest automotive market, where a host of innovative local brands compete in the electric sector. Tesla's strongest competitor in this niche is BYD (pronounced “bi-ouaille-di”).
The Chinese electric car champion grabbed the title of the world's largest seller of vehicles of this type from Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023.
However, Tesla remains the biggest seller throughout the year.
Last year, BYD (abbreviation for “Build Your Dreams”) became the first manufacturer in the world to exceed the symbolic mark of 5 million so-called self-produced vehicles (combined hybrid and electric vehicles).
According to the China Association of Individual Automobile Manufacturers, in November the manufacturer was still the leader in electric vehicles in its country (more than 300,000 cars sold), well ahead of Tesla (more than 80,000).
Concrete figures for the Chinese market in December and for the full year 2023 are to be published in the coming days.