Tesla used deceptive language to market Autopilot, California judge rules

Tesla's sales in California must be suspended for 30 days because its marketing around Autopilot and full self-driving capabilities has misled consumers, a California administrative judge has said. rules. Back in 2022 California DMV accused the automaker use deceptive language to advertise these products and create the impression that its vehicles are capable of Level 5 autonomous driving. Tesla has since added the word “supervised” to the name of its full self-driving assistance technology.

How Bloomberg It is noted that the DMV asked the administrative law judge whether the suspension was warranted based on the evidence he presented. Even though the judge agreed, the agency will give Tesla 90 days to explain its side of the story and remove any incorrect or misleading language from its product marketing materials. Tesla sales and production in California will only be suspended if the company fails to comply within this period.

“We do ask Tesla to do their job, as they have done in other markets, to properly brand these vehicles,” California DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a statement.

The California shutdown could be devastating for the automaker. Although new Tesla registrations in the state fell sharply earlier this year, Reuters says California accounts for nearly a third of the company's national sales. Additionally, Tesla produces the Model S and X vehicles only at its Fremont plant, which also produces the Model 3 and Model Y.