Tesla Faces NHTSA Investigation Impacting Valuation
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is under scrutiny by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as its investigation into the automaker’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) features has expanded from 2.4 million to 3.2 million vehicles. This escalation follows concerns about the software’s ability to detect vehicles in poor visibility, with the NHTSA citing instances where the FSD system failed to track lead vehicles.
This investigation comes at a crucial time for Tesla, whose valuation exceeds $1.2 trillion primarily due to expected growth in the robotaxi market, projected to be worth up to $10 trillion globally. However, the company currently generates less than 1% of its revenue from this nascent sector, and any mandatory recalls stemming from the probe could jeopardize its market prospects, as analysts warn it would undermine confidence in Tesla’s growth narrative.
