Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave a speech by video at the recent 2021 World New Energy Vehicle Congress . In the speech, he praised the growth potential of the Chinese market and emphasized the innovation of Tesla’s competitors in the country.
Musk said in the video, “China is the largest and most dynamic new energy vehicle market in the world. Chinese consumers want a car with better connected and more intelligent features. So we see great potential connected full self-driving vehicle growth in China. I have a great deal of respect for the many Chinese automakers for driving these technologies.”
He further explained that Chinese electric car companies are very competitive because some of them are good at software. He said, “It’s the software that almost shaped the future of automobile industry from design to manufacturing and especially autonomous driving.”
As for the data security of smart cars, Musk believes that “data security is not only the responsibility of a single company, but also the cornerstone of the whole industry development. Tesla will work with national authorities in all countries to ensure data security of intelligent and connected vehicles.”
The company has come under scrutiny by regulators in China over data security and security issues over the past year and now faces the prospect of a more integrated domestic industry competing with it.
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Musk revealed that “We continue to work hard to drive down costs and increase our rate of production to make electric vehicles as affordable as possible.” In addition, the company is “developing full self-driving vehicles with practical vision-based artificial intelligence, including chip development on the inference level and on the training level.”
Investment firm Wedbush analyst Dan Ives on Friday reiterated his rating for Tesla shares, keeping his target price at $1,000 per share for Tesla. He believes that the company will have many growth drivers entering 2022, including launching German factories this year, expanding supply capacity, and increasing demand for electric vehicles in the next 12 to 18 months.