Elon Musk met with the country’s premier, a longtime Tesla ally, and secured regulatory nods and a necessary partnership with a Chinese tech company.
The National Highway Safety Administration said it had concerns about how Tesla handled the recall based on recent crashes and testing of cars that had been updated.
Analysts expect first-quarter results to show a decline in profits, fueling worries that competitors will grab a bigger slice of slowing electric car sales.
A Tesla driver’s family had sought damages for the 2018 crash, which happened while the carmaker’s driver-assistance software was in use.
Once considered a laggard, the German luxury carmaker is one of only a few established automakers that has been able to compete effectively against Tesla.
Internal disagreements over the direction of the Apple car led the effort to sputter for years before it was canceled this week.
The car, which Apple spent billions of dollars researching, had been intended as a rival to Tesla’s E.V.s, which include autonomous driving features.
The leading Chinese electric vehicle company, with origins as a battery maker, has posted two years of million-car growth in sales.
The automaker has placed a bet on battery-powered cars, but it has struggled to produce and sell the vehicles in large numbers.
The recall follows a similar move by the company in the United States to upgrade the cars’ Autopilot feature.