According to the Wall Street Journal, Tesla China will open a design center in Beijing.
According to the notice of the "List of Key Tasks in the 2022 Municipal Government Work Report" issued by the Beijing government in January this year, it mentioned the promotion of the start of construction of Tesla's central projects.
In fact, as early as 2020, Tesla had said that it would establish a design center in China, responsible for manufacturing and producing electric vehicles in China. In October 2021, Tesla China disclosed that the R&D innovation center and data center in Shanghai have been completed, and the Tesla Beijing Design Center will become another investment after the Shanghai R&D center.
Earlier last year, Tesla officials announced that it was recruiting nearly 100 R&D and design positions, including chief designers, to launch a diversified product line that is more suitable for Chinese consumers.
Tesla CEO Musk has said that Tesla will design a "Chinese style" electric car for the global market in China. It is reported that the new model positioning is lower than the Model 3, becoming the cheapest electric vehicle series under the Tesla brand, while the new car will be designed, developed and produced in China and sold around the world.
According to the previously published drawings, this new car will most likely adopt the hatchback design, the appearance is still the Tesla family style, the body line looks very simple, and will be equipped with automatic driving assistance function.
At present, Tesla has sold 4 models in the Chinese market, namely Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y, with a starting price of more than 250,000 yuan. The launch of this cheap model will focus on the price range of 150,000-200,000 yuan, covering the price range of mainstream electric vehicles.
At the same time, the ultra-low bicycle cost of China's super factories and mature supply chains, export chains, etc., make this cheap model price-effective and supply cycle guaranteed when it is sold to other markets around the world.
Of course, the final introduction of this model to the market may take 1-2 years later. Previously, Musk said at the Q4 earnings report that Tesla will not launch any new models in 2022, and the company is currently working on the mass production of Tesla pickup truck Cyberruck and model Y equipped with 4680 batteries.