A Tesla Model Y and other Tesla vehicles sit at a dealership in Kennesaw, Ga., on March 19, 2025. Mike Stewart/AP Photo
Nine automakers, including Tesla, will recall about 4.3 million vehicles in China because emergency door releases can prove tough to spot or use after a crash, Chinese regulators said Friday. It is the country’s largest automotive recall campaign yet.
Tesla plans to recall 2.98 million China-made and imported Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X vehicles starting Sept. 25. That includes 973,156 domestically produced Model 3 cars built from March 2019 to April 2026, and 1,956,713 Model Y vehicles from November 2020 to April 2026. Smaller numbers of imported models fall under the action as well, including 35,590 Model 3s, 8,328 Model Xs, and 2,123 Model Ss.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation noted the problem centers on interior emergency mechanical door-release handles that sit close in color to the surrounding trim, making them potentially hard to identify and operate. In a collision that knocks out the vehicle’s low-voltage electrical system, occupants or rescuers outside may struggle to open the doors quickly.
Tesla will attach warning labels free of charge to mark the handles. It will also push an over-the-air software update that lowers the windows automatically after a collision. Some cars already carry the labels and will skip that step.
Xiaomi will recall about 390,000 vehicles. Leapmotor plans action on roughly 371,000. Xpeng’s figure stands near 264,000. Geely Holding and the remaining companies filed smaller recalls. Remedies across the group mostly involve warning labels plus remote software updates.
Beijing has tightened rules on electric vehicles this year. Officials have rolled out stricter safety standards amid a sharp price war in the world’s biggest auto market. China already announced it will ban concealed door handles beginning in 2027, the first nation to phase out a design Tesla helped popularize and Chinese EV makers widely adopted.
Most of the recalls target those mechanical emergency releases that regulators say can leave people trapped after power fails. Chinese state media reported last October that a Xiaomi SU7 driver died in a crash and fire when passersby could not open the doors.
U.S. regulators have examined similar handles. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would consider new safety standards for the risk of occupants being trapped during electrical power failures.
Tesla also filed a separate recall Friday covering 2,740,642 China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles produced from March 2019 to December 2025 to address insufficient attention monitoring when Autosteer is engaged. The software update will add cabin-camera monitoring on top of existing steering-wheel torque checks. It takes effect immediately and can reach most owners remotely.
Owners of affected vehicles will receive notices through the Tesla app, text, or email. The regulator’s recall center site and WeChat account also list further details.
Reuters contributed to this report.
