Tesla’s $25,000 car doesn’t bother China rivals
Tesla Inc.’s plan to build a $25,000 car within the next three years doesn’t seem to have fazed China’s mostpromising electric vehicle startups, with executives at the Beijing Auto Show saying Elon Musk can bring it on.
“It’s a good thing for us,” WM Motor Co. founder and chief executive officer Freeman Shen said. “We are very happy Tesla came to China because Tesla is just like Apple in the early days, they educate the whole market.”
Just as Apple Inc.’s share in the mobile-phone market has been eroded by local players like Xiaomi Corp., Oppo and Huawei Technologies Co., so too will Tesla’s, however over a longer time horizon, Shen said. Tesla’s slice of the “mainstream” electric vehicle market will significantly decrease in five to 10 years, he said.
Where WM Motor will be by 2030 isn’t certain either. The company earlier this month raised $1.5 billion in a Series D round led by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (Group), the parent of China’s biggest automaker SAIC Motor Corp.
People familiar with the matter have said that WM plans a stock-market listing in its hometown of Shanghai as soon as this year, something
Shen indicated on Saturday sounded ambitious, but declined to comment on further.
Xpeng Inc.’s vice chairman Brian Gu meanwhile described Tesla as a partner, with both EV manufacturers trying to make sure more consumers are attracted by smart, environmentally friendly cars. EVs are “less than 5% of the market” so together “we are accelerating that change and conversion,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Gu also said Tesla’s plan to expand its output in Shanghai to an annual capacity of one million vehicles in the coming years wasn’t of concern. If CEO Musk “achieves one million units, that means the market has grown so much faster and bigger than what we anticipated,” Gu said, adding that Xpeng’s mid-range EVs come in around the $25,000 mark already.