Tesla recalls more than 80,000 cars in China

Tesla is recalling more than 80,000 Chinese-made and imported cars built from as early as 2013, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced Friday.

Due to software problems affecting the battery management system in the vehicles, the US-based electric car maker has recalled 67,698 Model S and Model X cars imported to China between September 25, 2013 and November 21, 2020, according to the announcement by the market regulator.

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 has also been recalled. This was due to potentially faulty seat belt installation which Tesla will check and reinstall, SAMR said.

It is not the first time that Tesla has had to recall cars in China. In May, 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. 

The automaker is recalling more than 321,000 vehicles in the US because tail lights may intermittently fail to illuminate, according to a filing made public on Nov. 19. The company has reported 19 US recall campaigns in 2022 covering more than 3.7 million vehicles including four callbacks in November, according to NHTSA data.