Elon Musk Heads To China For A Visit To Tesla's Second-Largest Market

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), was reportedly en route to Beijing on Sunday to initiate a surprise trip in the electric vehicle maker's second-largest market, as per two sources familiar with the situation.

According to an exclusive report by Reuters, Musk aims to meet senior Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the deployment of Full-Self Driving (FSD) software in China and seek approval to transfer locally collected data abroad for training algorithms for its autonomous driving technologies, according to one of the sources.

Since 2021, Tesla has complied with Chinese regulations by storing all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai and has refrained from transferring any data back to the United States.

The U.S. electric vehicle maker introduced FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago, but it hasn't been made available in China yet, despite customer requests.

Musk recently stated that Tesla might offer FSD to customers in China "very soon" in response to a query on the social media platform X.

Chinese automakers like Xpeng (9868.HK) have been striving to gain an edge over Tesla by introducing similar software.

Musk's unannounced visit to China was not publicly disclosed, and the sources spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to communicate with the media. Tesla has yet to respond to requests for comment.

Since entering the market a decade ago, Tesla has sold over 1.7 million cars in China, with its Shanghai factory being its largest globally.

Musk's visit aligns with the Beijing auto show, which began last week and concludes on May 4. Notably, Tesla does not have a booth at China's largest auto show and last participated in 2021.

Earlier, the company had announced that it is laying off more than 10% of its global workforce, as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles (EVs).

Musk previously announced a round of job cuts in 2022, expressing concerns about the economy, reported CBS News. Despite this, Tesla's headcount has increased from around 100,000 in late 2021 to over 140,000 in late 2023, as per filings with U.S. regulators.

Baglino, a Tesla veteran, was one of four members, along with Musk, listed on the company's investor relations website as part of the leadership team.