Tesla reportedly faces Korean complaint over Full Self-Driving sales

South Korean consumer group plans to accuse Tesla of misleading tens of thousands of buyers over its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.

The group says most of Tesla’s cars in the country cannot legally use it, according to Reuters , which has seen the complaint.

Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty will file the complaint on Thursday with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), which handles consumer and competition cases.

The dispute turns on where the cars are made. FSD (Supervised), which Tesla has renamed in Europe , is a driver-assistance system that needs a human to watch the road. In South Korea, it runs only on US-built Teslas, Tesla Korea country manager Seo Young-deuk told lawmakers last month.

Those cars make up about 20% of Teslas registered in the country. They meet US safety standards that South Korea recognises under a free trade agreement, according to the complaint. Most Teslas sold there, however, come from Shanghai and fall outside that arrangement.

Tesla has sold more than 170,000 China-made cars in South Korea since 2023, according to data it gave the National Assembly. The same data shows 99% of new Teslas sold there last year could not legally use FSD.

For years, Tesla charged a one-off fee of 9.043 million won, about $6,700, for the software. It switched to a monthly fee of 150,000 won in August.

“Tesla generated substantial revenue by selling an expensive driver-assistance system to mass-market buyers who cannot use it for even a single day,” Choi Young-suk of the consumer group told Reuters.

The complaint also says Tesla promoted FSD as arriving soon last year with a demo video shot in South Korea. According to the group, that promotion left buyers unaware of how few cars could run it.

At an October 8 parliamentary hearing, Seo said Tesla had yet to formally ask the transport ministry to test FSD, and the company applied for certification two weeks later.

The ministry has said FSD breaks local safety rules, including the need to keep hands on the wheel, in a statement Reuters reviewed.

The group wants the KFTC to order a halt to FSD marketing for ineligible cars, fine Tesla and hand the case to state investigators.

A KFTC official told Reuters the agency began probing Tesla’s FSD ads this year, as Tesla also seeks approval in Europe, where Germany backs approval of the software.