- Elon Musk in Beijing to discuss Tesla’s autonomous driving
- China open to foreign firms; Tesla’s commitment highlighted
- Tesla faces scrutiny amid autonomous driving investigations
According to media reports, Elon Musk’s purpose in Beijing is to discuss the possibility of enabling autonomous driving mode on Tesla vehicles in China.
Musk intends to implement Full Self-driving (FSD) in China and transfer data gathered within the nation to another location for training algorithms.
FSD is offered in certain nations, such as the United States, but not in China.
The news surfaced after a United States report that linked Tesla’s autonomous driving modes to a minimum of thirteen collisions, one of which resulted in fatalities.
State media reported that during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Elon Musk expressed Tesla’s commitment to establishing a substantial partnership with China to “achieve more win-win outcomes.”
The Chinese market would “always be open to foreign-funded firms,” Mr. Li reportedly replied to Mr. Musk.
China is the second-largest market for Tesla. Other automakers, including Xpeng, a company based in Guangzhou, have introduced comparable autonomous driving capabilities to compete with Tesla.
Mr. Musk referred to Chinese automakers as “the most competitive automakers in the world” on Sunday.
To reassure Chinese authorities regarding the implementation of FSD in the country, Tesla has previously established a data center in Shanghai to process information about Chinese customers in compliance with local regulations.
The journey occurred days after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States announced it was investigating whether a Tesla driver assistance system recall adequately addressed safety concerns.
Drivers who were involved in the collisions, according to the NHTSA, “were not sufficiently engaged” despite the requirement that they maintain focus on the road and be ready to assume control at any time automatically driving was enabled. The regulatory analysis was undertaken before the recall that Tesla claimed would rectify the matter.
It is the responsibility of Tesla’s software to verify that operators are attentive and that the function is utilized exclusively under suitable circumstances, such as while traveling on major thoroughfares.
Musk has consistently maintained his assurance that Tesla vehicles will possess the capability to function as autonomous “robotaxis” for many years. He predicted that Tesla vehicles would attain “complete autonomy” by 2018. Moreover, he predicted in 2019 that the organization would have operational robotaxis the following year.
The Tesla chief executive announced this month that the organization’s robotaxi would be unveiled in August.
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Mr. Musk is held accountable by detractors for persistently exaggerating the potential for fully autonomous driving to bolster the stock value of the company. The stock price has declined due to various obstacles, such as diminishing global demand for electric vehicles and competition from more affordable Chinese manufacturers. Elon Musk refutes the allegations.
To stimulate demand, Tesla has reduced the price of its vehicles in China and other international markets.
“In order to align production and demand, Tesla prices must fluctuate frequently,” Elon Musk recently stated on X, the microblogging platform he once owned alongside Twitter.
Tesla disclosed a 13% decline in automotive sales for the initial quarter of this year, amounting to $17.3 billion (£13.7 billion).
Tesla’s overall revenue decreased by 9%, and the company’s profits plummeted to $1.13 billion from $2.51 billion during the same period last year.
As of the beginning of 2024, the share price has declined by 32%.
