Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk made a surprise visit to China on Sunday, meeting with government officials in an apparent effort to introduce Full Self-Driving software in the country. The move comes a week after Musk abruptly postponed an India trip for high-level talks for an investment there.
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China Premier Li Qiang, in a meeting with Musk, said Tesla’s growth in China is “a successful example of Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation”, the Chinese state broadcaster reported Sunday.
Tesla is aiming to win regulatory approval for FSD, which isn’t capable of self driving, in key markets such as China.
On Tesla’s April 23 earnings call, Musk said the EV giant aims to release FSD “as a supervised autonomy system in any market that — where we can get regulatory approval for that, which we think includes China.”
A key issue is that Tesla wants to transfer FSD data from China to the U.S.
However, Tesla has cleared Beijing’s data security tests, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced shortly after the Musk-Li meeting.
China bars Tesla from certain government facilities over data privacy concerns. The U.S. and China are at odds over local data sent overseas. President Biden last week signed into law a mandate for social site TikTok to separate from China parent Bytedance or be shut down, in part over data sent to China.
Musk reported will visit the Beijing Auto Show on Monday. Tesla, which has no new EVs to show off, is not taking part. But rivals are showing off a slew of new models, with driver-assistance software becoming increasingly common. Tesla’s sales are struggling in the face of intense competition and aggressive pricing. Tesla itself announced new price cuts earlier this month.
Passage To India Delayed
On April 20, Musk abruptly cancelled a scheduled April 21-22 visit to New Delhi, citing “very heavy Tesla obligations.” He had been set to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was expected to announce a big investment in India, including a Tesla factory.
An India factory would let Tesla enter a huge potential market, bypassing heavy import duties. But a low-cost Tesla EV would be hugely important to tap India, which also has more-limited EV charging infrastructure.
Tesla Stock
Tesla stock surged 14.4% last week to 168.29, reversing higher from a 15-month low. The EV giant’s Q1 EPS missed lowered expectations, but investors cheered Tesla’s plans for “affordable” EVs while Elon Musk touted robotaxis and predicted higher deliveries in 2024.
Shares fell 1.1% on Friday, once again hitting resistance around the 10-week moving average.
Late Thursday, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said it was opening a new probe of Tesla self-driving systems amid concerns that a 2023 move to improve driver monitoring and attention was falling short. The NHTSA also appeared to implicitly pin part of the blame for Autopilot and FSD accidents on Tesla, not just the driver.
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Barbara Terrio is a seasoned business journalist, delving into the world of finance, startups, and entrepreneurship. With a knack for demystifying complex economic trends, she helps readers navigate the business landscape. Outside of her reporting, Barbara is an advocate for financial literacy and enjoys mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs.
