If Tesla's entry into Shanghai Lingang in 2018 is called the first time to enter the Chinese market, then FSD (full self-driving) after the United States and Canada, the real landing in the Chinese market means the second opening to Tesla: the opening of data supervision, which is also a historic opening.
If this scene comes true, it will undoubtedly be a big positive for China's smart cars to go overseas.
This afternoon (April 28), at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing by flight and was received by the Chinese Premier of the State Council.
On the way to the conference room in Diaoyutai, Musk told reporters who followed: "It's great to see the progress of electric vehicles in China, and all cars will be electric in the future." ”
The 2024 Beijing International Auto Show, held on April 24 at the Shunyi International Exhibition Hall in Beijing, is a truly international auto show for Chinese automobiles, bringing together media and car people from all over the world to observe the progress of China's smart cars.
Regarding Musk's arrival, Li Qiang said that Tesla's development in China can be called a successful example of Sino-US economic and trade cooperation. China's hyperscale market will always be open to foreign companies. China will continue to work hard to expand market access and strengthen service guarantees, so as to provide a better business environment and stronger comprehensive support for foreign-funded enterprises, so that enterprises from all over the world can invest in China with peace of mind.
According to the official press release, Musk said that Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory is Tesla's best-performing factory, thanks to the industrious wisdom of the Chinese team. Tesla is willing to further deepen cooperation with China and achieve more win-win results.
Regarding Musk's visit, Reuters reported before Musk landed in China that it was "a surprise visit" for him to China.
Regarding Musk's trip, Reuters, citing information from a person familiar with the matter, said that Musk is seeking to meet with Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the launch of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in China and seek approval.
At the heart of this is the "quest for permission to transfer data collected in China abroad for the purpose of training algorithms for autonomous driving technology." ”
Since 2021, Tesla has stored all data collected in China in Shanghai and has not transferred any data to the United States, as required by Chinese regulators.
Musk said on the social media platform X not long ago that Tesla may soon make FSD available to Chinese users.
However, according to the CCTV related video report, there is no mention of this matter.
However, this evening, Musk has received a huge benefit:
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the National Computer Network Emergency Technology Processing and Coordination Center issued the "Notice on the Testing of Four Safety Requirements for Automotive Data Processing (First Batch)", which specifically mentioned that all the models produced by Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory meet the compliance requirements, and it is the only foreign-funded enterprise that meets the compliance requirements.
The report quoted industry analysts as saying:
Tesla has passed the authoritative standards and requirements for national vehicle data security, which is conducive to the full lifting of the ban and parking restrictions on smart cars such as Tesla (such as government agencies, airports, highways, etc.). According to the announcement, Tesla, as the first batch of companies that have passed the national authoritative vehicle data testing, is carried out in strict accordance with relevant regulations, standards and testing processes in the vehicle testing process, and meets the four compliance requirements stipulated in the relevant provisions of the national "Several Provisions on Automotive Data Security Management" and GB/T 41871-2022 "Security Requirements for Automotive Data Processing of Information Security Technology": anonymization of face information outside the vehicle, no collection of cockpit data by default, in-vehicle processing of cockpit data, Handling of personal information, notice, etc. Previously, Tesla has realized localized data storage in Tesla's Shanghai data center in 2021. In addition, Tesla has introduced a third-party authority to audit the company's information security management system and passed the security management system certification (ISO27001).
In the notice jointly issued by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the National Computer Network Emergency Technology Processing and Coordination Center, the core information is that Tesla has achieved localized storage of data, and second, it has passed the third-party safety management system certification.
From these two points, FSD's entry into China should be the biggest obstacle that has been cleared.
And in Tesla's subsequent official tweet, it was also mentioned:
"We are honored to be part of the rapid development of China's new energy vehicle industry. I sincerely thank friends from all walks of life for their care and support. We will continue to work hard in China, develop together with the industry in artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, energy storage and other fields, accelerate the implementation of clean energy and autonomous driving technologies, and turn our vision into reality." ”
In addition, the information obtained by Zhijia.com from other channels can also corroborate the entry of FSD into China, and it is not a rumor that FSD has entered China.
At the Baidu Apollo smart car product launch conference on April 22, Shang Guobin, vice president of Baidu, said that Tesla's models in China will be the first to be equipped with Baidu Maps V20 to support lane-level navigation 3D leading version, which will be pushed to new and old Tesla owners starting in May.
This is a smart map system that combines a navigation map and a smart driving map.
This may provide a potential timetable for FSD to enter China.
Two days before Musk's visit to China, Tesla's FSD price was lowered, and in the U.S. market, its price dropped from $12,000 to $8,000, a drop of up to one-third.
Currently, Tesla only offers FSD functionality in the US and Canadian markets, where it is currently priced at $11,000 CAD.
At the same time, the FSD subscription price has been lowered to $99 per month.
The price of FSD in the United States has been reduced to $8,000
FSD stands for fully autonomous driving, but in terms of level, it is still positioned as L2, that is, intelligent driving assistance functions.
This feature has been released in beta since October 2020 and expanded to all interested Tesla owners in November 2022. At launch, FSD was initially sold for $5,000, but the price gradually increased until it peaked at $15,000 in September 2022.
In addition, Tesla has simplified the FSD option by reducing the "Enhanced Autopilot" kit, which is an intermediate option between Tesla's "Basic Autopilot" feature set and FSD. According to the U.S. EV media, customers who previously purchased an enhanced autopilot can now upgrade to FSD for $2,000.
This drop to $8,000 can be said to be a huge drop.
However, if it is promoted in the Chinese market at this price, there may still be huge controversy, and the price of more than 60,000 yuan will still keep many willing consumers out.
However, FSD is highly expected by Tesla and Musk, firstly, to increase the profit of car sales, and secondly, to strengthen Tesla's leading position in the market with the help of FSD.
Since entering 2024, Tesla has been under tremendous pressure in the Chinese market.
First, first-quarter sales fell short of market expectations, with first-quarter revenue falling 8.7% year-on-year to $21.3 billion.
Tesla's revenue decline is related to the decline in market share in China, and the growth and significant increase in investment in hybrid models in the global market (including China).
Tesla's market share fell from 10.5% in the first quarter of 2023 to around 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to calculations conducted by Bloomberg, citing data from the China Passenger Association.
However, judging from the absolute sales data, Tesla's sales in the Chinese market have not declined: according to the wholesale sales report of new energy passenger car manufacturers released by the Passenger Car Association on April 2, Tesla's sales of Chinese-made vehicles in March were 89,064 units, roughly the same as the 88,869 units in March 2023, and also higher than the 60,000 and 365 units in the previous month, which was the lowest level since December 2022.
However, it is a fact that the growth rate in the Chinese market has declined.
Tesla's stock price has fallen by 42% since the beginning of the year, making it the worst performer among S&P 500 constituents.
Musk not only lost the richest man in the world, but also took the third place by Zuckerberg.
However, Musk did not give the market a chance to talk, and then launched the fastest and largest layoff in history, with more than 10% of the number of employees, while recalling all the Cybertrucks that had been sold.
At the same time, a new round of price reduction measures was introduced, and the announcement of the launch of a more affordable model, the legendary Model 2, and the launch of a driverless taxi on August 8 was announced.
Rumors about the Model 2 are untrue, but Musk has recently emphasized that he plans to bring forward his production schedule.
As for the news of Robotaxi's landing this year, although Musk is a bounce king, this news still boosted the stock market.
And the core of Robotaxi is undoubtedly that FSD has matured.
In the book "Musk Biography" written by Walter Issacson, Musk claims that Tesla will launch the next generation of cars, a two-seater Robotaxi, by the end of 2024.
This means that Tesla's FSD entry into China can not only improve the technical advantages of existing models, but also is expected to open a new business: Robotaxi.
And in Musk's description, buying the FSD version of a Tesla model can be used for rental in the vehicle's spare time. It is about to make the use of autonomous driving in car sharing a reality.
However, there is still a question here, can FSD's entry into China change the fierce competition faced by Tesla and stand out through technological advantages?
The objective comment of Zhijia.com is that the scene of 2019 will not be repeated.
In 2018, Tesla's construction of a factory in Shanghai drove the growth of China's smart electric vehicle industry chain, and successfully activated China's new car manufacturing movement in the form of a catfish.
Then the entry of FSD into China will further activate China's intelligent driving industry chain.
Among the companies interviewed by Zhijia.com, they all have a positive attitude towards FSD's entry into China.
Whether it is the current pictureless, end-to-end, and purely visual route in the industry, FSD's entry into China will undoubtedly cause controversy and play the role of a weather vane.
However, it is clear that the boost in sales of Tesla-related models will not play a decisive role.
Musk has seen a decline in Tesla's sales growth, and an important reason is the strength of hybrid models in the short term: "The global adoption rate of electric vehicles is under pressure, and many other automakers are abandoning electric vehicles in favor of hybrid vehicles. This is not the right strategy. ”
This is not the same as the emphasis on the Chinese media in Diaoyutai Park today: all cars will be electric in the future.
That is, the meaning is meaningful.
However, this is all a consumer choice.
FSD不再处于测试阶段，特斯拉已将其名称从FSD Beta改为FSD Supervised。
A series of recent videos on the road of FSD have demonstrated its strong end-to-end capabilities, and the pure visual and end-to-end solution has become a hot topic at the 2024 Beijing International Auto Show.
FSD V12, which is based on neural networks and Transformers, has been described by Musk as a specific application of generative AI, and Professor Zhu Xichan of Tongji University has even said that it has reached L4 capabilities.
While we believe this will have limited significance in boosting sales of its models, the sensational effect should not be underestimated.
Musk's trip to Beijing today came quietly, coinciding with the Beijing Auto Show.
After the hustle and bustle of Ma Honglei Green's traffic, Tesla, which did not participate in the Beijing Auto Show, unexpectedly stole the show.
Known as the second half of the smart electric vehicle competition, the intelligent driving war has begun, whether Tesla can still have the original appeal, FSD into China can be regarded as a limit test of the rapid development of China's smart electric vehicles in the past ten years.
Zhijia.com hopes that Tesla will once again play the catfish that activates the market and achieve another win-win situation with Chinese automobiles.
A day before Musk's visit to China, Mercedes-Benz's Level 3 electric vehicles, the EQS and EQS SUVs, had already begun sales in the United States.
The market opening of smart cars has become the trend of the times, and there are perfect solutions to the anxiety of data security in various countries at the technical level.
Openness has always been a two-way street, and Tesla's FSD entry into China is undoubtedly a good thing for China's smart cars to go overseas.