Oh my God, a recall! Is this it for Tesla? Is this pie-in-the-sky liberal fantasy going to crash to the ground, taking trillions of taxpayer dollars and, perhaps, all of Western civilization, with it?

Well, not this time, apparently. The recall concerns a mounting bracket for the left-hand latch of the second row seat, which “could be weaker than intended.” Tesla is not fully confident that the left-hand seat back “will be properly retained in the event of a crash.” And the issue applies only to “some Model S vehicles manufactured between May 10 and June 8, 2013.”

According to a statement on Tesla’s web site:

As designed, the striker bracket is both bonded and welded to the vehicle body, either one of which would be sufficient by itself. This is consistent with the primary design goal of the Model S, which is first and foremost to maximize safety. However, we discovered that, due to body side alignment adjustments in the factory, the bonded section of the joint was compromised and the welded section of the joint was weakened in some cars.

We do not wish to cause undue alarm, so it is perhaps worth clarifying that:

• The weld has not actually detached on any car
• There have been no customer complaints
• We are not aware of any injuries or near injuries
• No regulatory agency brought this to our attention

So minor is this matter that affected owners don’t even need to bring their cars to a service center. “Tesla will pick up the car at a location of the owner’s convenience, provide a Model S loaner if needed, perform the work and bring the car back to the owner a few hours later.”

Far from being a setback for the company, it almost seems like a publicity stunt to show off Tesla’s obsessive concern for safety and its exemplary customer service. If there is any disaster here, the stock market doesn’t seem to have noticed – TSLA was up a couple of percentage points in Wednesday morning’s trading.

Source: Tesla