ROME – New trouble on the way for owner Elon Musk’s Tesla. The Californian electric car giant is recalling 1.6 million vehicles in China over a software update that poses “safety risks.” This was announced by the Chinese market regulator (Samr), explaining that this recall aims to correct defects in the software for assisted driving and locking the car’s doors. The measure affects two batches of cars produced between 2014 and 2023 and includes a total of 1.6 million units between Model S, Model X, Model Y and Model 3. The software malfunction, according to the Chinese authority, ” it increases the risk of collision with the vehicle and poses a safety problem,” also adding that it is possible to perform the update remotely without therefore having to take the car to the workshop.
It should be noted that last December Tesla had already recalled two million vehicles in the United States due to a risk related to their Autopilot assisted driving system.
China is the most important market for Musk’s brand, which has a plant in Shanghai, the largest outside the United States and boasts a production capacity of over 900,000 vehicles in 2023. This recall represents a delicate intervention for the manufacturer American as it faces strong competition in China, the world‘s largest market, where numerous innovative local brands, such as BYD, are gaining ground in the electric vehicle sector.