It is the latest hitch for the US electric
vehicle giant that is hugely popular in China, but has also faced complaints
from consumers and been hit by Covid-19 lockdowns.
About 127,785 domestic and imported Tesla
Model 3 cars were recalled due to a rear motor inverter defect discovered after
regulators launched a probe, according to a Thursday notice.
“When this fault occurs when the car is
driving, it will cause the vehicle to lose its driving motion,” the State
Administration of Market Regulation said.
“In extreme cases, this could increase the
risk of vehicle collision.”
Tesla sold a record 70,847 cars in China in
December, facing stiff competition from homegrown brands such as Nio and XPeng.
But the carmaker has also been targeted by
numerous social media complaints from Chinese users about quality and service
issues, culminating in a high-profile customer protest at the Shanghai Auto
Show in April last year.
Tesla’s Shanghai “gigafactory” has been
shut for at least 12 days due to a spiralling outbreak that has seen record
infection numbers and confined the city’s 25 million residents at home indefinitely,
according to Bloomberg.
In December Tesla recalled almost 200,000
vehicles from China over a trunk defect that increased the risk of collisions.
As the world’s biggest polluter, China has
heavily encouraged sales of electric and hybrid vehicles through subsidies,
aiming to have a majority of cars powered with clean energy by 2035.
Tesla founder Elon Musk last year predicted
that China would become the firm’s biggest market in the long term, and has
sought to increase its foothold in the country as the world’s biggest consumer
of electric vehicles.
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