US Department of Justice expands investigation into Tesla

The US Department of Justice is expanding the investigation it launched against Tesla in autumn 2022. The investigation originally focused on possible misrepresentations regarding Autopilot - now there are four allegations.

As Tesla announces in a stock exchange release, the ministry has requested various information and also sent subpoenas. This does not only concern the driver assistance system Autopilot, but also the range of the vehicles as well as “personal benefits” and “personnel decisions”. However, these points are not specified in more detail.

In August, the Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors were also looking into allegations about the range of Teslas and the use of company funds for a “secret project”. This project is said to be Elon Musk’s house.

Other allegations involve statements relevant to investors. Tesla claimed that its 2023 capital expenditures would exceed the $7 billion to $9 billion target set earlier this year as the company ramps up production at its factories and prepares to launch new models. However, in a regulatory filing, Tesla itself had indicated that capital spending would likely not reach this level again for another two years. Thus, due to the economic outlook and the interest rate environment, work on the Gigafactory Mexico is progressing more slowly than expected.

In its announcement, Tesla also refers to a data leak in connection with a foreign news portal in the second quarter of 2023 – this apparently refers to the reporting in the German publication Handelsblatt.

sec.gov (SEC announcement), reuters.com, handelsblatt.com,