But, Musk’s unique organization has run into trouble in the world’s next- largest economy: In January, Tesla recalled more than 1.6 million electrical vehicles in China to resolve their steering software.
His appearance in China coincides with a fiercely competitive EV market war between firms hungry to advance.
China’s nearby vehicle giant BYD-” Build Your Dreams”- beat out Tesla in next year’s fourth quarter to become the world’s leading seller of EVs.
In the first third of this year, Tesla regained that name, but BYD continues to dominate in its native business.
His visit coincides with Beijing’s large car show, which held press events from Thursday through the weekend and was free to the public.
” TESLA’S LAST HOPE”
There was a lot of debate that the star billionaire may go Auto China while in Beijing, according to comments under posts about Musk’s appearance on the social media platform Weibo.
One person claimed that Musk’s visit was motivated by a need to test drive the SU7, Xiaomi’s first vehicle model, earlier this year.
Xiaomi’s entry into the fiercely competitive EV market appears to be down to a good start, with CEO Lei Jun reporting this month that pre-orders had outperformed expectations by three to five times.
Other commentators responded to rumors that Musk’s trip was intended to give him an opportunity to speak with Chinese officials about the potential release of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving ( FSD ) technology to the local market.
” FSD is Tesla’s last hope for saving its domestic sales”, one Weibo user said.
Musk’s interests in China have extended raised eyebrows in Washington, with President Joe Biden saying in November 2022 that his connections to foreign countries were “worthy” of attention.
The tycoon’s suggestion that Taiwan, which is self-ruled, may join China sparked controversy among other things, which was welcomed by Taiwanese authorities but greatly infuriated Taipei.