By Michael Elkins
According to a statement released by Chinese market regulators on Friday, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has placed a recall on 80,000 Chinese-made and imported cars produced from as early as 2013, for software and seat belt issues.
The U.S.-based electric car maker has recalled 67,698 Model S and Model X cars imported to China between Sept. 25, 2013 and Nov. 21, 2020, due to software problems affecting the battery management system in the vehicles. Tesla has also recalled 2,736 imported Model 3 cars manufactured between January and November 2019, and 10,127 China-made ones of the same model produced between Oct. 14, 2019 and Sept. 26, 2022 due to potentially faulty seat belt installation.
In April, Tesla recalled a total of 127,785 units of Model 3 cars in China, citing potential faults in semiconductor components that might lead to collisions.
“Recalls are always costly and often get amplified in a way that can be reputationally damaging — especially true now as the market has become hyper-competitive and Tesla’s backlog has been shrinking,” Bill Russo, CEO at Shanghai-based Automobility, told CNBC.
“This recall mostly impacts imported models (S and X), so it can be managed if they get out in front of it.”
Shares of TSLA are up 2.13% in pre-market trading on Friday.