Image: Tesla Korea
A South Korean consumer group plans to ask regulators on Thursday to stop Tesla from marketing Full Self-Driving (Supervised) to buyers whose cars cannot legally use it.
Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty (소비자주권시민회의) intends to file a complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters. The group says Tesla sold the software for a lump-sum 9.043 million won (about US$6,726) while knowing most Teslas in Korea are Shanghai-built and shut out of FSD under local rules. It comes after a Seoul court rejected an FSD refund suit filed by 89 owners in October.
Choi Young-suk, who leads automotive issues at the group, said Tesla made substantial revenue selling an expensive driver-assistance system to mass-market buyers who cannot use it for even a single day. The complaint asks the KFTC for a temporary halt to FSD marketing on ineligible cars, administrative fines, and a referral to state investigators.
Data Tesla submitted to South Korea’s National Assembly put the share of 2025 new Teslas that could not legally run FSD at about 99%, Reuters reported. At a separate October 8 hearing, Tesla Korea country manager Seo Young-deuk told lawmakers only about 20% of Teslas registered in Korea can use FSD, which lines up with materials released by Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Jong-tae of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee: 53,477 US-built vehicles eligible versus 183,407 China-built Model 3 and Model Y cars that are not.
US-built cars enter under the Korea-US free trade agreement, which recognizes American safety standards. Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y do not get that route and need separate approval. Tesla has sold more than 170,000 Shanghai-produced vehicles in Korea since 2023, according to Reuters.
Tesla did not respond to Reuters‘ requests for comment. The group’s own press release for Thursday’s filing was not on its site as of Wednesday.
The dispute sits next to the October 8 National Assembly grilling of Tesla Korea’s CEO over who gets FSD, and earlier Korean warnings about illegal FSD activation on cars that cannot run the feature legally.
Should Tesla stop selling FSD on cars that can’t legally use it in Korea?
