Tesla must solve safety problems in 1.6 million electric cars with an update

The American car manufacturer Tesla must ‘recall’ more than 1.6 million vehicles in China. There is a problem with the automatic steering function of the Model S, Model

China’s Market Regulation Authority announced in Beijing on Friday that cars that rolled off the assembly line between August 26, 2014 and December 20, 2023 were affected. The electric car manufacturer’s two branches in Shanghai and Beijing have submitted a necessary plan for this.

Additionally, a door lock control issue is affecting just over 7,500 imported Model S and Model

Tesla wants to solve the problems in the cars via a software update and therefore the affected customers do not have to go to the workshop, the statement said. The authority warned affected car owners to drive carefully.

BYD overtakes Tesla

Tesla has been doing very good business lately in China, the largest car market in the world. In the fourth quarter, the American electric car pioneer said it delivered 484,507 cars to end customers worldwide. In the entire year of 2023, the group sold almost 1.81 million cars, achieving the previously reduced sales target. However, the original sales target of 2 million cars was clearly missed.

The Chinese car manufacturer BYD is increasingly faced with competition. The Chinese sold more than 526,000 electric cars worldwide in the fourth quarter and overtook Tesla to take first place.

Over the entire year, the Chinese company sold more than three million cars, of which 1.6 million were pure electric cars and more than 400,000 were plug-in hybrids.

(oli/sda/awp/dpa)