Tesla Motors outlines efforts to boost Chinese sales
Elon Musk, CEO of American car manufacturer Tesla Motors, said in Beijing on Saturday that the company is bringing autopilot software and super-batteries to China.
This will follow sluggish predicted sales in China for the company, as of the end of October, industry website Pingwest reported.
Although sales bounced back to 1,345 during the third quarter of 2015 from 797 and 883 for the first and second quarters respectively, Tesla's China business is unlikely to significantly contribute to the company's expectation of 50,000 globally, according to the report from October 24.
Despite this, Musk's appearance in Beijing seemed to indicate how much the company treasures the Chinese market, the CEO personally introducing the company's latest features, such as the autopilot function, which is able to save drivers energy both on highways and in heavy traffic.
Musk also told a car owner that Powerwall, a super-battery produced by Gigafactory, will be introduced in China sometime next year. According to a previous Pingwest report, Powerwall is an auxiliary power source that stores electricity during idle hours and provides households and Tesla cars with power when needed.
As well as increasing the number of charging stations in China from 800 last year to 1,500 as of this month, the company is also planning to beef up production volume in China. "After meeting the producing potentials in the US, we will start to manufacture here in China," said Musk.