Car manufacturer Tesla was among the losers on Wall Street on Wednesday. Public prosecutors in the United States are investigating whether Tesla misled consumers and shareholders about the capabilities of its self-driving cars, three insiders told Reuters.
In the US, hundreds of accidents have already occurred with the Autopilot driver assistance system, which have also resulted in people dying. Investigators are investigating whether Tesla committed fraud by exaggerating about the system’s capabilities. The stock market watchdog SEC is also looking into Tesla’s statements to shareholders about the driver assistance systems, according to one of the sources who spoke to Reuters. In addition, the US Highway Traffic Safety Agency on Tuesday requested data from Tesla to determine whether a recall has made the system safer.
Tesla shares fell almost 2 percent. Tesla fell almost 4 percent on Tuesday, after reports that far fewer cars were shipped from the Shanghai factory in April. According to The Wall Street Journal, the manufacturer is sending Tom Zhu, one of its top executives, back to China to revive sales.
Uber is also declining
The overall mood on Wall Street remained somewhat cautious after the recent strong rebound. The Dow Jones index ended 0.4 percent higher at 39,056.39 points. That was already the sixth consecutive day of gains for the Dow. The broad S&P 500 index closed flat at 5,187.67 points and the Nasdaq tech exchange lost 0.2 percent to 16,302.76 points.
Uber fell almost 6 percent after a disappointing quarterly report. The American taxi and delivery company plunged into the red in the past quarter.