An administrative law judge Controls that Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing that gave customers a false impression of the capabilities of Autopilot and Full Self-Driving driver assistance software, a key development in a year-long lawsuit initiated by California’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
The judge agreed the state DMV request to suspend sales of Tesla for 30 days as punishment for its actions, but the DMV upheld the order and gave Tesla 90 days to amend or remove any misleading language before the suspension was implemented, ACCORDING on many outlets. The judge also recommended suspending Tesla’s manufacturing license for 30 days, but the DMV also stayed the order, according to Bloomberg News.
It was not immediately clear what threshold the CA DMV had in mind for Tesla’s compliance with the ruling. If Tesla complies, the suspensions will be dropped. The DMV did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tesla no longer has a public relations department.
Tesla is facing several investigations from Attorney General of CaliforniaTHE Department of Justiceand the Securities and Exchange Commission over similar allegations that its marketing around partial autonomy systems was misleading. The company has also faced (and now settled) several personal civil lawsuits over crashes involving Autopilot technology.
The case brought by the CA DMV has been around the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings for years. The agency accused Tesla of leading customers to believe that its advanced driver assistance systems were capable of high levels of autonomy. This led to over-reliance on the systems, the DMV alleged, which contributed to dozens of crashes and many deaths. Tesla denies these claims by saying that its marketing is protected speech.
The closure of sales in California, even temporarily, could have a significant impact on Tesla’s business as it remains the company’s largest market in the United States. A manufacturing suspension could also hurt Tesla’s business. While the company built a large factory in Austin, Texas (and moved its official headquarters to the same location), it still relies on its Fremont, California factory to produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles, including all North American-bound Model 3 sedans.
The judge’s decision comes at a time when Tesla is ramping up testing of its Robotaxi service in Austin. At the end of the week, the company removed the safety monitors from its small crowd in the city. It has been offering rides to city customers for the past six months, but with a safety monitor on the driver’s or passenger’s seat. Those cars run a different version of Tesla’s driving software than what the automaker’s customers have in their cars, CEO Elon Musk said.
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