Tesla will recall a total of 127,785 units of its Model 3 cars in China, the country’s market regulator said on Thursday, over potential faults in semiconductor components that might lead to collisions.
The company will recall cars manufactured between January 2019 and January 2022 – 34,207 of them imported and 93,578 made in China – according to a statement on the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation.
This is the latest in a series of setbacks this year for the US automaker, with the firm’s factories in Shanghai recently forced to close for nearly two weeks because of the Covid-19 lockdown imposed in China’s biggest financial centre to counter a surge in Omicron cases.
Bosses had hoped to see workers return on Monday, but the city’s shutdown has been extended after thousands of cases were found in recent testing campaigns.
The carmaker had been due to start work on a new plant in Shanghai in March as part of a plan to more than double production capacity in China to meet growing demand for its cars in the country and export markets.
Once the new plant is fully operational, Tesla will have the capacity to produce up to 2 million cars per year at its expanded Shanghai facility, sources revealed in February.
Musk’s Washington EV Summit
The new plant will be located in the vicinity of its existing production base in Lingang, Pudong New Area, which is the company’s main export hub.
The expansion, once completed, would give Tesla EV-dedicated production capacity in the world’s largest auto market on a par with more established brands in China, such as Toyota and Volkswagen.
The cost of the planned expansion and Tesla’s timetable for completion were not revealed.
Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was in Washington on Wednesday with other automotive industry bosses for a meeting with US officials to discuss electric vehicles (EVs) and charging.
“There was broad consensus that charging stations and vehicles need to be interoperable and provide a seamless user experience, no matter what car you drive or where you charge your EV,” the White House said in a statement.
• Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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