Tesla Adjusts Its Autopilot Pitch in China
August 16 2016 - 3:10AM
Dow Jones News
SHANGHAI—Tesla Motor Inc. has revised the marketing of its
Autopilot feature in China, after a Beijing driver who sideswiped a
parked car when the system was engaged accused the car maker of
overplaying its capabilities.
Since the weekend, the company has scaled back its description
of Autopilot on its website and in other marketing materials from
zi dong jia shi, meaning the car can drive itself, to zi dong fu
zhu jia shi, meaning it is a driver-assist system. Also, Tesla has
told its China-based sales staff to make the system's limitations
clear to consumers.
Autopilot is designed to help drivers change lanes, maintain a
safe speed and find parking spaces. When drivers turn it on, a
message appears on the instrument panel warning them to keep their
hands on the wheel.
A spokeswoman for Tesla in China, Duan Zhengzheng, confirmed the
changes Tuesday, saying they are meant to alert drivers world-wide,
especially outside the U.S., that driving with Autopilot turned on
doesn't eliminate risks.
"We want to highlight to non-English speaking consumers that
Autopilot is a driver-assist function," she said.
Autopilot has faced scrutiny since a fatal May 7 Model S crash
in Florida. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in
June said it would investigate the crash, the first known
Autopilot-related fatality.
In China, the Autopilot issue went viral last week when Luo
Zhen, the Beijing driver, posted a video showing how his Tesla
brushed an illegally parked Volkswagen on a highway while Autopilot
was activated. There were no injuries. Tesla confirmed the
incident, but added that the driver was detected not to have had
his hands on the wheel despite the dashboard warning—and Chinese
traffic laws, which require two hands on the wheel at all
times.
Mr. Luo admitted taking his hands off the steering wheel before
the accident. But the 33-year-old programmer said Tesla sales
representatives had misled him into thinking that the car has full
self-driving capabilities, even taking their own hands off the
wheel when demonstrating Autopilot.
"The car manual has hundred of pages," said Mr. Luo. "If you
were me, would you read it from the first page to the last?"
A handful of crashes have been linked to the software since its
debut in October. Several driverless-car advocates have criticized
Autopilot for lulling drivers into believing the car is in
control—as evidenced by videos drivers have posted online showing
themselves reading or even sitting in the back seat while the car
drove itself—when in fact it requires them to remain alert.
In China the issue has also underlined concerns about how any
technology could keep up with the country's often chaotic traffic
conditions, in which few drivers, cyclists or pedestrians seem to
be following the rules of the road.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said last month the company has
no plans to disable its Autopilot function, and would redouble its
driver-education efforts.
Rose Yu
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 16, 2016 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024