Tesla recalls more than 1.6 million cars in China over steering software issues

Tesla is recalling more than 1.6 million vehicles in China over issues with steering software and door-locking systems, the country’s regulator says.

The recall includes its models S, X, 3 and Y, and 7,538 imported vehicles.

The problems will be fixed by remote updates to software, meaning the vehicles will not need to be taken to dealerships or garages.

It comes less than a month after Tesla recalled two million cars in the US due to autopilot software issues.

In May last year, the Chinese regulator said more than a million vehicles may have acceleration and braking system issues.

The American electric car giant then discovered problems with assisted driving functions and door-locking systems.

The Chinese regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), described the planned vehicle update as a recall, even though it will happen remotely.

Tesla will release an over-the-air software update for a total of 1,610,105 vehicles, including imported Models S and X and the China-made Models 3 and Y cars made from 2014 to 2023, the SAMR said.

The regulator added that this was to tackle issues with the autosteer function and cut the risk of collision.

“For vehicles within the scope of this recall, when the automatic assisted steering function is turned on, the driver may misuse the level two combined assisted driving function, increasing the risk of vehicle collision and posing a safety hazard,” the SAMR explained.

Separately, Tesla will also upgrade the software for 7,538 units of Models S and X cars to fix the problem of doors that could unlock in crashes.

This is the second recent blow for Tesla in the country, after China’s BYD overtook Tesla’s electric car sales worldwide in the last quarter of 2023.

Another similar move in 2022 saw Tesla recall nearly 128,000 cars in China over a rear motor inverter defect.

Tesla has a large consumer market in China – where people have been encouraged to buy electric and hybrid vehicles through subsidies. The country aims to have a majority of cars powered with clean energy by 2035.

China also hosts a major manufacturing plant in Shanghai, which is Tesla’s first “gigafactory” to be built abroad. The facility delivered 947,000 vehicles in 2023, according to state news agency Xinhua.