Tesla is looking for relationship managers to strengthen ties with the Chinese authorities and to polish the reputation of the Chinese. This is apparent from a message from the car manufacturer on the chat app WeChat, which is widely used in China. Tesla has often been negatively in the news in the country in recent months.

Tesla sales collapsed in China in July. The electric car manufacturer makes vehicles there for the local market. In July, Tesla delivered more than 8,600 cars to China, up from more than 28,000 a month earlier. In July, Tesla exported many more vehicles from China to other markets, especially European ones. According to CEO Elon Musk, sales are normal to be a lot lower at the beginning of the quarter. He tweeted that Tesla will be making cars for export in the first half of the quarter and the local market in the second half of the quarter.

At the end of June, Tesla virtually recalled 300,000 cars in China to the garage. They needed an online software update due to problems with the driver assistance system. The so-called assisted driving function in electric cars could be activated without being instructed to do so. As a result, the car could suddenly start driving faster, for example.

On Monday, it was announced that US authorities had started an investigation into the safety of Tesla’s autopilot after a series of collisions. In addition, the American regulator NHTSA announced that it would further study the driver assistance system of the electric car manufacturer. Since January 2018, the system is said to have been involved in at least 11 collisions.

The Chinese authorities already warned Tesla in April to pay more attention to the safety of its electric cars. An article by state news agency Xinhua said that the American company had to gain consumer confidence. In doing so, Xinhua referred to issues such as malfunctioning brakes and cars going up in flames during charging.

The Chinese authorities’ open criticism of Tesla followed a woman’s protest at the critical Shanghai auto show. The woman climbed onto the roof of a Tesla. She had been campaigning against the company for some time because she and her family said she almost died due to faltering brakes.