Elon Musk says the biggest competitor of Tesla will be a Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) company.
Key Details
- Tesla owner Elon Musk says a Chinese EV company will likely be a big competitor of Tesla as Chinese car companies “work the hardest, and they work the smartest.”
- Musk says Chinese companies are the most competitive in the world, and if a company were to compete with Tesla, it would most likely come from China.
- China is Tesla’s second-largest market which accounted for about two-thirds of all EV sales globally in 2022 and features the company’s largest manufacturing plant.
- China has long embraced EVs, and Musk thinks if any vehicle manufacturer were to come close to his company, it would likely come from China.
Why it’s news
EV sales in the U.S. are starting to ramp up, and many people are looking at Ford Motor, General Motors, or Toyota as Tesla’s big EV competition, so it surprising to hear the CEO of the biggest EV maker point to China.
Elon Musk thinks if any car company were to rival Tesla, it would be a Chinese company stating that the foreign car companies are the most competitive and that they “work the hardest, and they work the smartest.”
China is a country that has long accepted the switch to EVs—with more than 56% of car sales in 2022 being EVs.
Tesla is the largest EV company, with over 1,917,450 Teslas being sold since the company’s beginning. Considering the big EV market in China, Tesla owner Elon Musk thinks that an EV manufacturer from the country will likely be Tesla’s biggest competitor.
Musk described China as the most competitive in the world, and when asked about Chinese companies, he said, “If I were to guess,” he says, “probably some company out of China is the most likely to be second to Tesla.”
Musk has voiced his thoughts about China’s competitive nature before stating he had “a great deal of respect for the many Chinese automakers” during an online forum in September 2021.
Despite COVID factory disruptions, Tesla made more than 710,000 EVs in China last year, amounting to 52% of its global output.
Tesla still reigns as number one in the EV market, but companies could move closer to the EV giant as more manufacturers move into the space.
