Tesla allegedly misled South Korean customers about automated-driving tech

29 points by EA-3167 2 days ago | 7 comments

matt3210 2 days ago |
What a coincidence, Tesla mislead everyone else about automated driving too!
Terr_ 2 days ago |
Hold up folks, this isn't quite the usual debate about the merits of the technology or overselling what it can do. That lawsuit stems from where the cars were manufactured.
1. Tesla "FSD" on its own isn't street-legal in South Korea.
2. However it is street-legal if it comes with a car imported from the US, because of a trade-agreement between the two countries.
3. Tesla took "FSD" money from customers while providing them China-made cars that don't get that exception.
MiroslavPokorny a day ago |
I think your third point is broken. It doesnt matter where the cars are made, the law of SK states that FSD cannot be used for either car.
Terr_ a day ago |
> It doesn't matter where the cars are made
Counterexample from the article:
> FSD can be used on about 20% of Tesla vehicles registered in South Korea — those manufactured in the US, Tesla Korea country manager Seo Young-deuk said in parliamentary testimony last month. Those cars meet US vehicle-safety standards that South Korea recognizes as part of a free trade agreement, according to the forthcoming complaint to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), seen by Reuters.
MiroslavPokorny 13 hours ago |
> Those cars meet US vehicle-safety standards that South Korea recognizes as part of a free trade agreement
Does Korean law concerning cars and automation actually state this exception ?
Terr_ 12 hours ago |
Just to be clear, you accept that the reporting is corect and the situation exists, and you're just curious about how and why?
I'm not a lawyer, let alone a Korean lawyer or an international trade lawyer, but this US copy of the agreement [0] has an addendum (PDF) linked as "2011 Exchange of Letters (revised as of January 1, 2019)", where it states:
> Korea shall provide that an originating motor vehicle produced by a manufacturer that sold no more than 50,000 originating motor vehicles in the territory of Korea during the previous calendar year shall be deemed to comply with Korean Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (KMVSS) if the manufacturer certifies that the motor vehicle complies with U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
I tried to pull up Korean legal code and run it through a translator, but... ugh. Anyway, an agreement of this nature might take precedence while absent from the KMVSS rules.
[0] https://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/...
MiroslavPokorny 6 hours ago |
I am not disputing that the article and others from the US or even the Korean trade department can promise or say what they wish.
A website belonging to America does not replace or superced actual Korean law.
Until the Korean law itself is changed, the trade agreement is just a piece of paper with a promise, it is not actual law.
The trade agreement and the representatives from Korea do not have the legal authority to change any law, that privilege belongs to the Korean Parliament.