Tesla is allowing Chinese customers who buy its vehicles on or before December 31 to transfer their original FSD to a new vehicle for free. The last time the window was available was from February 7 to March 31.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has reopened a limited-time free transfer window for Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China, after the previous extension expired at the end of March.

Chinese customers who purchase and take delivery of a Model 3, Model Y, Model S, or Model X on or before December 31 of this year will be able to transfer the FSD software from their original Tesla vehicle to a new one for free, the US electric vehicle (EV) maker announced today on Weibo.

Eligible customers need to have an original vehicle with FSD entitlement and not have the vehicle sold at the time of applying for the transfer, according to a Tesla poster.

Customers will need to use the same account as the original vehicle when ordering a new one, according to Tesla.

Tesla first allowed Chinese owners to transfer FSD to a new vehicle for free on July 22, 2023, with the entitlement expiring on September 30 of last year.

The company's move at the time followed what it did in the US. During its second-quarter earnings call on July 19, 2023, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said owners could transfer FSD purchased for old vehicles to new ones.

The move Tesla China announced today follows the EV maker's strategy in the US.

All Tesla vehicles now come with the free Basic Autopilot (BAP) software. In China, the company has been allowing customers to buy FSD, which is currently priced at 64,000 yuan ($9,000).

In addition to FSD, Tesla also offers Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) at a price of RMB 32,000 in China.

On February 7 of this year, Tesla once again began allowing customers to transfer FSD for free in China, and also began allowing free transfers of EAP, both until March 31.

Although Tesla allows owners to purchase FSD, the feature is not yet actually available in China.

Musk said on an earnings call on July 24 this year that Tesla will likely get regulatory approval to launch FSD in other markets such as Europe and China by the end of this year.

Chinese media outlet LatePost reported in an August 29 story that Tesla had originally planned to open a small-scale internal test of FSD in China this September, but that was delayed.

On September 5, Tesla's AI team's account on social media platform X, @Tesla_AI, said the company planned to launch FSD in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approval.

While FSD is not yet available in China, Tesla's sales don't appear to have been affected.

The US EV maker sold 72,200 vehicles in China in September, supposing August's 63,456 for a year-to-date high, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

That's up 65.95 percent from the 43,507 units sold in the same month last year, and up 13.78 percent from August.

In the third quarter, Tesla sold 181,883 vehicles in China, up 30.27 percent year-on-year and up 24.67 percent from the second quarter, contributing 39.29 percent of its global deliveries of 462,890 units.

In the January-September period, Tesla's retail sales in China were 460,200 units, up 6.1 percent year-on-year, placing it third in China's new energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales rankings with a 6.5 percent share, according to a list released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) yesterday.

In the January-September period, BYD's retail sales of NEVs in China totaled 2,466,607 units, an increase of 30.9 percent year-on-year, to take the top spot with a 34.6 percent share.

Geely's retail sales of NEVs during the period were 527,093 units, up 95.8 percent year-on-year, and ranked second with a 7.4 percent share.

NEVs in China include battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrids. Tesla only produces BEVs, while BYD and Geely both produce BEVs and hybrids.

($1 = RMB 7.1119)

Automakers' share of China NEV market in Sept: BYD tops with 34.4%, Tesla 4th with 6.4%