TESLA BATTERED AS ALMOST ALL OF ITS CARS IN CHINA NEED SAFETY FIX

Tesla Inc.’s aspirations in China were dealt a major blow over the weekend after the government ordered that almost all the cars it has sold in the nation -- more than 285,000 of them -- be fixed to address a safety issue, Katrina Nicholas reported for Bloomberg News.

The State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement on Saturday that the action involves 211,256 locally produced Model 3 vehicles and 35,665 imported ones, as well as 38,599 China-made Model Ys.

The California-based carmaker only began deliveries of the Model Y sports-utility vehicle in January, so the recall will affect pretty much every driver who bought one.

The Chinese agency said the vehicles’ autopilot systems can be activated automatically, potentially leading to crashes from sudden acceleration. In most cases, the fix should be able to be made remotely with an online update to the cars’ active cruise control feature.

Tesla will upgrade the software for free.

While Tesla apologized via its official customer support account on Weibo, saying that it will “continue to improve safety in strict accordance with national requirements,” the recall tops a string of embarrassing setbacks for the company in China.

A protest that went viral at the Shanghai auto show in mid-April and a spate of crashes has soured public opinion toward the EV pioneer and a few local governments and official institutions are reviewing Tesla ownership among their staff, citing concerns the cars pose security risks.

In March, Teslas were banned from some military complexes and housing compounds because of worries about the in-built cameras. Tesla immediately moved to reassure authorities, saying data collected in China are stored locally.

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