Asian Tech Press (Feb 8) -- Tesla Inc. has reportedly cut a steering component from its cars due to a chip shortage involving the China-made Model 3 and Model Y.

CNBC reported Monday that Tesla has decided to remove one of two electronic control units in the steering racks of Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y cars under pressure to meet fourth-quarter sales targets while coping with chip shortages.

The report said Tesla did not disclose the practice to the public, and that tens of thousands of vehicles delivered in China, Australia, the U.K., Germany and other parts of Europe were affected. It's unclear whether Tesla will make similar changes to vehicles manufactured in or shipped to the U.S.

Professionals noted that The move is aimed at keeping factory production and sales running smoothly starting in the final weeks of 2021.

Tesla employees say that a dual electronic control unit system is required to add "level 3" functionality, which allows a driver to use Tesla's hands-free driving feature without steering in normal driving scenarios.

This means that if the vehicles in this reduction want to achieve hands-free driving, car owners would need to take their vehicles to a Tesla service center and have them repaired and modified.

Insiders also said that the reduction will not cause safety problems, because the removed part was a secondary electronic control unit, mainly used as a backup.