South Korean consumer group plans complaint against Tesla over FSD — Electrek
South Korean organization Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty plans to file a complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) against Tesla over the marketing of the Full Self-Driving (FSD) package for vehicles that do not have local approval to use it. As Electrek reports, according to Tesla’s own data, the issue affected 99% of the brand’s vehicles sold in South Korea last year.
According to Tesla Korea head Seo Young-deuk, FSD works on around 20% of Tesla vehicles registered in the country. The organization demands that the KFTC temporarily prohibit the company from advertising FSD for cars not entitled to use the feature. It also asks for fines to be imposed and the case to be referred to state investigators.
Cars from China require approval
The FSD (Supervised) feature became available late last year only for U.S.-made Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck vehicles. These cars are imported into South Korea under the KORUS free trade agreement, which recognizes U.S. safety standards.
Meanwhile, Model 3 and Model Y vehicles sold on the Korean market are supplied from the Giga Shanghai plant. There is no comparable mechanism for recognizing standards for Chinese-made vehicles, so FSD requires separate approval in South Korea. Tesla told the National Assembly that it has sold more than 170,000 Shanghai-made vehicles in the country since 2023.
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Claims over advertising and certification
According to Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, Tesla advertised FSD as a feature that would “be available soon” and also showed videos filmed on South Korean roads. In the organization’s view, the advertising did not explain that the feature would be available only for a small portion of the vehicles the company sold in the country.
Tesla previously charged a one-time fee of 9.043 million won, or about $6,726, for FSD. In August, the company switched to a monthly subscription costing 150,000 won. During parliamentary hearings on October 8, Seo Young-deuk said that Tesla had not submitted an official application to the transport ministry to test FSD by that time; about two weeks later, the company applied for certification.
The KFTC is already investigating Tesla’s advertising of FSD and has received written explanations from the company. Tesla did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Last month, a Seoul court dismissed a lawsuit by Tesla owners seeking FSD refunds: the judge cited Korean regulations as the reason why the additional features had not been launched.
