US senators have written to Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) chief executive Elon Musk requesting recalls following an investigation alleging the company knowingly sold faulty vehicles.
“We write with extreme concern following recent reporting about Tesla’s knowledge of safety flaws in its vehicles and concealment of the causes of these flaws,” a letter signed by senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward J. Markey read.
The duo, of Connecticut and Massachusetts respectively, referenced a Reuters investigation published earlier in December which accused Tesla of the practice.
This reported that Tesla had deliberately been selling vehicles with faulty steering and suspension parts for years and blaming drivers instead for issues.
Service managers had been directed to deny parts on Tesla vehicles, which were often relatively new, were faulty, according to Reuters.
“We are disturbed that you would blame your customers for these failures,” the letter from the two Democrat senators continued.
“It is unacceptable that Tesla would not only attempt to shift the responsibility for the substandard quality of its vehicles to the people purchasing them, but also make that same flawed argument to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”
Tesla has since disputed the allegations made by Reuters.
“[The article] leads with a wildly misleading headline and is riddled with incomplete and demonstrably incorrect information,” Tesla said on Wednesday.
“The reality is Tesla’s customer retention is among the best and highest in the industry.”
Tesla is being investigated in Sweden and Norway over suspension failures in its vehicles, meanwhile.