Elon Musk’s company will never have sold so much from its models of electric vehicles. However, it accumulates reminders for various dysfunctions.
by Jean-Michel Normand
Solid world number one of the electric car, Tesla is about to beat her production record once again. Apart from France, where registrations over the first ten months of the year are behind 10 %, according to AAA Data, while the electric vehicle market increased by 28.7 %, the results are flattering with sales that exceeding 1.2 million units worldwide, compared to less than 800,000 in 2021 at the same time, according to the Cabinet Inovev.
However, a little discordant music goes around the American brand. The most striking car manufacturer of the last ten years accumulates commercial successes, but also collects annoyances. Starting with the stock market course, which plunged. The Tesla action has lost more than half of its value since the start of the year, going from $ 399 (386 euros) to some $ 185 in recent days. A slide that sanctions a series of “bad buzz” with which the brand must compose.
Tesla, who seemed to pass between the drops of the semiconductor crisis, could not escape the rigors of zero covid politics imposed by the Chinese authorities, who has long forced his mega-factory from Shanghai, producer of Model 3, to turn in slow motion. These same authorities imposed, on November 25, the recall of 80,000 Tesla for problems related to battery management and the operation of safety belts. One more episode in the flow of criticisms that fell on the manufacturing quality of cars produced by the manufacturer.
reminders that make disorder
Since January, Tesla had to make nineteen reminders on her vehicles. In question, various and varied dysfunctions, relating to the power steering or the rear lights, this last problem having imposed a modification on 321,000 vehicles. In most cases, it was enough to carry out a remote software update, but recurrence of reminders is starting to make disorder even if the procedure is commonplace in the automotive world and most manufacturers are not left out . These reliability concerns no longer benefit from the same leniency. According to the American consumer association consumer reports, “the manufacturing quality continues to be a problem with Tesla”.
To this are added recurring controversies linked to the “automatic pilot” system, regularly accused of causing accidents – the last one took place in mid -November in China and left two dead. Contested, the manufacturer’s technological choices in terms of autonomous conduct earn him to be at the heart of multiple investigations of the American administration, including the Department of Justice.
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