South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has fined Tesla $2.2 million for alleged violations of the country’s advertising law.
The South Korean Fair Trade Commission said in a statement that Tesla falsely and exaggeratedly promoted the driving range and charging speed of its electric cars, as well as estimated fuel cost savings using its cars, reports a local Arabic daily quoting the US Bloomberg Agency.
The committee pointed out that Tesla, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, changed this advertisement on its Korean-language website last February, when the South Korean antitrust watchdog conducted an investigation regarding the false information contained in it.
The regulator will also fine Tesla an additional $783 for violating the e-commerce law, saying the company did not provide enough information to consumers about its cancellation policy and would send notice to Tesla to correct its activities.
It is noteworthy that, as of the end of September 2022, Tesla had sold 45,812 battery-powered cars in South Korea, since opening a local office in 2015, according to the country’s Ministry of Transport, which made the sales volume of it the third largest brand of green cars, with a local market share of 13 percent, behind the local automakers “Hyundai” and “Kia”.
