Tesla Misled South Korean Buyers On Self-Driving Software: Report

Tesla has misled tens of thousands of South Korean customers by marketing driver-assistance software that the company knows cannot be legally used in most of its vehicles in the country, according to a complaint an advocacy group plans to file with a consumer protection agency on Thursday.

Tesla has marketed Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software to prospective buyers in South Korea for years, often collecting lump-sum payments of 9.043 million won ($6,726).FSD can be used on about 20% of Tesla vehicles registered in South Korea - those manufactured in the US - Tesla Korea country manager Seo Young-deuk said in parliamentary testimony last month.

Those cars meet US vehicle-safety standards that South Korea recognises as part of a free trade agreement, according to the forthcoming complaint to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), seen by Reuters.The complaint to the regulator, which also handles antitrust, has not been previously reported.Most Tesla vehicles in South Korea, however, are manufactured in China, where no such agreement exists.