Germany Backs Tesla FSD as EU Regulators Buckle Despite Disputed Safety Data

Tesla has been running a coordinated social-media campaign blaming European traffic deaths on regulatory red tape around its Full Self-Driving system, and a Reuters investigation published October 7 found the company's safety claims underpinning that push do not hold up. Independent traffic-safety researchers identified flawed comparisons in Tesla's self-published statistics, including mismatched crash categories and broad assumptions about how FSD would perform across all vehicles. The company had presented that data directly to European regulators through correspondence obtained by Reuters via public records requests.

Despite the scrutiny, the pressure campaign appears to be gaining traction. Germany moved to push for faster EU-wide FSD approval, a development Elon Musk welcomed publicly with a post saying "Danke Schön." Benzinga and Reuters both reported the German backing on the morning of October 7, the same day the Reuters investigation into Tesla's flawed safety data published. Six European countries had individually cleared the supervised driver-assistance system ahead of a potential EU-wide vote, with the Netherlands having been the first to approve it. Reuters noted that regulators more broadly are starting to buckle under the campaign even as experts dispute the data supporting it.

EU-wide approval of FSD is central to Tesla's growth strategy, with software revenue and the long-term robotaxi business both depending on broad European market access. The collision between the Reuters findings and Germany's endorsement on the same day sets up a direct test of whether regulatory momentum or safety scrutiny carries more weight as an EU-wide vote approaches.