Tesla hands over first cars produced at the new plant in Gruenheide.
FRANKFURT Reuters -- Germany's road traffic agency said it was recalling Tesla Models Y and 3 because of a fault in the automatic emergency call system that affects 59,000 vehicles worldwide.
The KBA watchdog said on its website on June 29 that a software flaw was causing a breakdown of the eCall, which is designed to automatically contact emergency responders in the event of a serious accident.
The German regional radio Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, serving the region that is home to Tesla's German model Y and battery production site near Berlin, first reported the recall on Saturday.
KBA said 59,129 vehicles were affected globally, but did not say how many of them were registered in Germany.
The software glitch is an added headache for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk after Tesla said it delivered 17.9% fewer electric vehicles in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, as China's COVID 19 shutdown disrupted its production and supply chain.
Musk said last month that Tesla's new factories in Texas and Berlin are losing billions of dollars as they struggle to increase production due to a shortage of batteries and Chinese port issues.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA upgraded its investigation into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with the advanced driver assistance system Autopilot, a required step before it can seek a recall.
Tesla was not immediately available for comment.