Tesla has issued the largest-ever product recall in mainland China’s electric vehicle (EV) market, as Elon Musk’s firm pledges to fix a door-handle issue affecting nearly 3 million cars.
The massive recall comes as Chinese regulators move to ban retractable car door handles over safety fears, after a fatal incident last year in which a driver was left trapped inside a burning vehicle as passers-by were unable to open the car doors.
While Tesla is not the only company affected by the move, the US firm has issued the largest recall announced so far.
The company will call back a total of 2.98 million vehicles, including Shanghai-made Model 3s and Model Ys as well as other cars imported from the United States, according to a statement issued by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation on Friday.
From September 25, Tesla will add warning labels to its cars’ internal door handles after the vehicles are recalled. The US carmaker will also conduct an over-the-air (OTA) update to its window-control software, which will lower a car’s windows after a collision.
“The door problem has become a big issue since late last year as Chinese regulators and passengers attached greater importance to safety,” said Zhang Wenjie, who runs a car maintenance workshop in Shanghai.
“It is expected by the market that large-scale recalls by Tesla and other domestic carmakers will eventually raise the auto industry’s awareness of product design and quality.”
Also on Friday, Xiaomi, a key rival to Tesla on the mainland, announced plans to recall about 400,000 vehicles over the car door issue.
Public concerns over the safety of car doors first erupted in October, after a fatal accident in southwest China’s Sichuan province involving a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra electric car.
According to local media reports, passers-by tried to pull a 31-year-old man out of the burning car, but could not open the doors.
In February, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced its plan to ban retractable car door handles.
From next year, cars must have both internal and external door handles that can be mechanically opened at all times, even in the event of an accident or power failure, according to the new rules.
Separately, Tesla is also recalling 2.74 million Model 3 and Model Y vehicles assembled at its Shanghai factory to conduct another OTA software update to ensure its assisted steering and other driver-assistance functions are engaged when drivers fail to respond quickly during collisions, according to the regulator’s statement.
Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory began building Model 3 vehicles at the end of 2019, and it is now the US carmaker’s largest production base worldwide.
In 2025, the plant churned out about 851,000 vehicles for sale both in China and overseas. That represented more than half of Tesla’s total output that year, which dropped 8.6 per cent to 1.63 million units.
China is Tesla’s second-largest market worldwide, behind only the US. -- South China Morning Post
