Visitors look at a Tesla vehicle at the China International Digital Economy Expo 2023 in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province, September 6, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

US electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla will recall around 1.62 million EVs out of safety concerns in the Chinese market, the market regulator said on Friday.

A total of 1,610,105 imported Model S, Model X, Model 3 and domestic-made Model 3 and Model Y EVs manufactured between August 26, 2014 and December 20, 2023 are to be recalled due to problems with the automatic assisted steering, according to a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation. The problems will be fixed by a remote over-the-air software update, it said.

In addition, some imported Model S and Model X EVs produced between October 26, 2022 and November 16, 2023 will be recalled, totaling 7,538 vehicles, to fix a problem with doors that could unlock in collisions, it said.

This is reported to be the US EV maker's largest recall in China so far, as its previous massive recall was in May 2023, involving 1.1 million vehicles.

The move is not likely to impact Tesla's sales in the Chinese market, as it's common for carmakers to recall their products and it shows their responsibility, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, told the Global Times on Friday.

Tesla recently formally launched its new mega factory project that is capable of producing 10,000 Megapacks a year in Shanghai, a fresh example showing US companies' investment confidence in China.

Tesla started its operation in Shanghai in January 2019 and the company has continued to increase investment there, including expanding the production capacity of the Shanghai Gigafactory and building more facilities including a supercharger manufacturing plant.

Chinese EV producer BYD overtook Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2023. Tesla said that it delivered 484,500 EVs in the final quarter of 2023, while BYD said it had sold about 526,400 EVs during the same period.


Global Times