Elon Musk, the boss of American electric car maker Tesla, expressed his desire to expand its activities in China during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing. Elon Musk, who went to China for the first time after the corona epidemic, announced that Tesla, which he owns, will continue to expand the scope of its production in China.
Tesla announced in April that it would establish a new battery factory in Shanghai. The facility in question will initially have an annual capacity of 10 thousand mega batteries and will start production in the second quarter of 2024. This factory will be the second Tesla facility in the financial center of eastern China, just behind the Tesla mega facility, whose construction began in 2019.
Experts at investment firm Wedbush Securities say Tesla is persistently focused on continuing its expansion in China, which continues to create a very lucrative environment for it. According to the China Passenger Car Manufacturers Association, sales of electric and hybrid vehicles account for more than a quarter of all released vehicles on the market, as sales doubled in 2022.
In China, the world's largest automobile market, both government support and increasing consumer interest in electric vehicles have enabled Chinese companies to dominate the domestic market. In this context, although Tesla continues to be the first in the world in electric vehicle sales, Chinese brands have also experienced a serious explosion in popularity in recent years.
As a matter of fact, Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD, one of the leading brands in the electric vehicle market, announced that its net profit for 2022 increased fivefold on a yearly basis at the end of last March. Meanwhile, Tesla saw a slight decline in its net profit due to a significant increase in its sales, but lowered its prices.