Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, speaks to CNBC on May 16, 2023.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to visit China this week, three people with knowledge of the matter said, it will be his first trip to the country. after three years.
Musk is expected to meet with senior Chinese officials and visit Tesla’s Shanghai factory, two of the sources said.
It is not clear who Musk will meet and what they will discuss. People familiar with the trip declined to be named because it was a private matter.
Tesla and the China State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters reported in March that Musk was planning a trip to China and was seeking a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in early April, with the exact timing subject to Li’s availability. .
China is Tesla’s second-biggest market after the United States, and the Shanghai factory is the electric carmaker’s largest production hub.
Musk also owns the social media platform Twitter, which is banned in China, although some people access it through a virtual private network (VPN).
The trip will mark Musk’s first trip to China since he made waves online by dancing on stage during an event at Tesla’s Shanghai factory in early 2020.
It will also come at a time when Tesla is grappling with multiple issues, including intensifying competition with Chinese automakers that are exporting Chinese-made electric vehicles as demand in the auto market continues to grow. The world’s largest auto is in decline.
Tesla has yet to give any updates on its plans to increase production by 450,000 vehicles a year at its Shanghai plant, although in April it said it would build a factory in Shanghai to make new vehicles. Megapack energy storage products.
The company has submitted a plan to the local government to expand powertrain production capacity at its Shanghai plant to 1.75 million units per year.
China’s state planner has been grappling with overcapacity in the auto industry of more than 100 companies and has warned of approving new production capacity.
Musk told CNBC earlier this month that “there are some limitations to our ability to expand in China.” “It’s not a matter of demand,” he added.
In the same interview, Musk said tensions between the United States and China “should be everyone’s concern.”
Tesla is building a factory in Mexico that is expected to produce lower-cost electric cars built on the next-generation platform.
