Europe sees more FSD moves

Tesla’s driver-assistance push in Europe moved a step forward on April 10, when Dutch regulators approved Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Supervised system for use in the Netherlands. (rdw.nl) The Dutch vehicle authority, known as RDW, said it issued a type approval after more than one and a half years of testing on public roads and a test track. RDW said the system can now be used in the Netherlands and could later be admitted across European Union member states. (rdw.nl) RDW said Tesla’s software is a driver-assistance system, not a self-driving car, and the driver remains legally responsible at all times. The regulator said the system watches whether the driver’s eyes are on the road and whether their hands are available to take over immediately. (rdw.nl) Reuters reported on April 10 that the Dutch decision was Tesla’s first approval for supervised self-driving software in Europe, covering highways and city streets with required human supervision. Bloomberg also described the ruling as the first of its kind for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software in Europe. (msn.com) (bloomberg.com) The approval lands as Europe keeps tighter rules than the United States on automated driving features. RDW said Tesla had to go through a formal type-approval process, and in March the agency publicly pushed back after Tesla posted its own expected approval date before the regulator had finished its review. (rdw.nl 1) (rdw.nl 2) A separate Europe move is coming from XPENG, which is expanding by building vehicles inside the region instead of only shipping them from China. Magna said on September 15, 2025 that XPENG selected it to assemble two electric models for Europe in Graz, Austria, with serial production starting in the third quarter of 2025. (magna.com) Magna called the XPENG deal its first complete vehicle assembly program in Europe with a Chinese automaker. XPENG President Brian Gu said the arrangement was “a first step in our growth in Europe” and part of a “long-term commitment to Europe.” (magna.com) XPENG has also kept widening its commercial footprint in the region. In January, the company said deliveries of its P7+ sedan would begin in April 2026 across 25 European markets, and its global pressroom says Volkswagen was named on March 2, 2026 as the first customer for XPENG’s next-generation intelligent driving system. (xpeng.com 1) (xpeng.com 2) South Korea is moving on a parallel track, with the government shifting from small pilots to larger autonomous-vehicle programs aimed at commercialization by 2027. A February 26, 2026 policy roadmap called for 200 autonomous vehicles in Gwangju for large-scale testing and set 2027 as the target for full commercialization. (metaqsol.com) (koreatimes.co.kr) That push is tied to an aging-driver debate in South Korea. The Korea Herald reported that traffic accidents involving drivers age 65 and older rose to 42,369 in 2024 from 31,072 in 2020, while the Korea Times reported new self-driving pilot programs were launched in February 2026 to fill transport gaps in places with limited mobility service. (koreaherald.com) (koreatimes.co.kr) Taken together, the weekend’s social posts pointed to three different routes into the same market: Tesla through regulation, XPENG through local manufacturing, and South Korea through public trials. In all three cases, the systems still sit inside rules that keep a human driver, operator, or safety framework in the loop. (rdw.nl) (magna.com) (koreatimes.co.kr)