Some of the vehicles included in this recall fail to deliver an audible or visual warning from the seat belt reminder device after startup and when the driver is not wearing a seat belt.

(File photo shows a Model 3 on display at a showroom in China. Image credit: CnEVPost)

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is recalling thousands of imported electric vehicles (EVs) in China to fix a problem with a software update.

The US EV maker is recalling a total of 5,836 imported Model 3, Model S and Model X EVs with production dates between January 12, 2019 and April 26, 2024, according to an announcement on China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR ) website today.

Due to manufacturing reasons, some of the vehicles included in this recall have an abnormal driver's seat occupancy function, according to the announcement.

These vehicles have a safety hazard in that the seat belt reminder device fails to deliver an audible or visual warning when activated and the driver is not wearing a seat belt, the announcement said.

The recall will be implemented starting July 1. Tesla will upgrade the vehicles within the recall to software version 2024.20.3 or higher through OTA (over the air) updates at no charge, and users can complete the software upgrade without visiting a store.

For vehicles that cannot be recalled via OTA, Tesla will contact the users to check the driver's seat belt reminder function for the recalled vehicles free of charge, and repair any faulty vehicles.

Before the vehicle recall is implemented, users should drive the vehicles with caution, the announcement noted.

This is Tesla's second recall in China this year.

On February 23, Tesla recalled 8,700 vehicles in China due to a software issue where the reverse camera may not display.

On December 29 last year, Tesla recalled more than 1.6 million vehicles in China due to a software issue, involving possibly all vehicles at the time.

Tesla sold 55,215 vehicles in China in May, up 29.89 percent from 42,508 in the same month last year and up 75.73 percent from 31,421 in April, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

In the January-May period, Tesla sold 219,056 vehicles in China, a decrease of 0.38 percent from the same period last year.

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