Tesla sales suspended over deceptive Autopilot marketing? Here's California judge's ruling

Tesla's recent marketing strategies for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance systems might have borne fruit, but an administrative law judge has determined that Tesla engaged in deceptive tactics regarding its driver-assistance technologies.

The Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle (EV) maker was reportedly found to be misleading customers about the capabilities of these systems.

The judge backed the DMV's request to suspend Tesla sales for a period of 30 days as a penalty, although the authority has stayed this order, giving Tesla 60 days to tweak or eliminate any misleading language before enforcing the suspension.

The ruling is said to be a substantial result of a long-standing case lodged by California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

One must take note that the judge also recommended a 30-day suspension of Tesla’s manufacturing license, which the DMV has also stayed.

DMV director Steve Gordon emphasised the agency’s commitment to obliging manufacturers to high safety standards in a bid to protect California drivers.

Tesla, responding to the ruling in a post on X, asserted that sales in California would continue and characterised the ruling as a "consumer protection" order regarding the term “Autopilot,” although no issues were reported by customers.

The DMV has not clarified the specific actions it expects from Tesla regarding the term “Autopilot.”

The discovery of Tesla's deceptive marketing comes in the midst of Tesla already facing a spree of investigations and lawsuits concerning its marketing practices related to partial autonomy systems, which the DMV believes have led to overconfidence in the technology, adding to crashes and fatalities.

Tesla's temporary sales shutdown in California, the company's largest market, is likely to badly affect Tesla's business operations.