‘They work the hardest and the smartest’
According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the biggest threat to Tesla does not come from Europe, Japan or the US, but from China.
“They work the hardest and they work the smartest,” Musk is said to have said of car-building Chinese in general. Automotive News Europe also continued: “That is why we consider it likely that the second electric car brand after Tesla will come from China.” With that ‘second’ there is still a nice bit of confidence, but it is clear that Musk takes the Chinese EV industry seriously. Not surprising, because indeed most Tesla-like brands seem to come from China. Nio (photo), Xpeng and BYD, just like Tesla, are not or hardly ‘affected’ by the baggage that traditional European and American car makers are also involved in technology and innovation in a similar way. BYD would even be close behind Tesla when it comes to the title of ‘largest EV builder in the world’, we heard earlier. Musk mentioned at his statements, not specific brands.
China is by far the largest market for EVs with reportedly two-thirds of global EV sales, but Tesla itself also benefits from this. China is the second market for the American brand. Moreover, Tesla has a (literally) giga factory there, where part of the Teslas sold in Europe roll off the production line.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl